The Natural History Museum has released an early look at the winning images from the 62nd Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and the competition has broken its own record again — more than 65,000 entries from 121 countries and territories. Full details are on the Natural History Museum’s announcement.
The images released so far
The sneak peek gives a sense of the range that keeps this competition interesting. Audun Rikardsen has an inquisitive polar bear gazing down a seal’s breathing hole in the Arctic sea ice. Ernest Porter captures the intertwined lives of a rhino and an oxpecker, the bird cleaning its bill against the animal’s hide.
Two of the released images show why the competition has never been simply about exotic wildlife. Young photographer Jack Crockford has a swift silhouetted against an incoming plane at Heathrow — a reminder that the best wildlife pictures are often about the collision between animals and us, and that they can be made close to home. Allegra Hutton’s shot of a young leopard chasing a squirrel up a tree in Botswana’s Okavango Delta covers the more classical end.
Why the record entry matters
Over 65,000 entries from 121 countries is a genuinely striking number, and it is up from the 60,636 that produced last year’s exhibition. Judging is anonymous, assessed on creativity, originality, technical excellence and the stories the images tell, by an international panel drawn from wildlife photography, filmmaking, science and conservation.
The anonymity is the part worth dwelling on. In a field where a handful of names could otherwise dominate, judging without knowing who took the picture means an unknown photographer’s single extraordinary frame competes on equal terms with a career professional’s. That is a large part of why the competition still matters to photographers rather than merely to audiences.
Key dates
The category winners, along with the Grand Title and Young Grand Title awards, will be announced on Tuesday 13 October 2026 at a ceremony at the Natural History Museum hosted by Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin. The ceremony will be streamed live on the Museum’s YouTube channel, so you do not need to be in London to watch it.
The exhibition of all 100 winning images opens at the Museum on Friday 16 October 2026. If you have never been, it is worth the trip — seeing the images printed large and backlit is a considerably different experience from scrolling them, and the accompanying captions explaining how each was made are genuinely instructive.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 62: key details
Entries: over 65,000 from 121 countries and territories, a record for the competition. Judging: anonymous, on creativity, originality, technical excellence and storytelling, by an international panel spanning wildlife photography, filmmaking, science and conservation. Winners announced: Tuesday 13 October 2026, at a ceremony hosted by Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin, streamed live on the Natural History Museum’s YouTube channel. Exhibition: opens Friday 16 October 2026 at the Natural History Museum, London, showcasing all 100 winning images. Ticket and visitor information is available via the Museum’s exhibition page.
