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24 Winning Shots From The Artist Gallery’s 2026 Wildlife Photography Contest

Wildlife photography gives us a glimpse into a world that often unfolds beyond human sight. From split-second encounters and dramatic displays of survival to expressive portraits and fascinating animal behavior, these images reveal the beauty, power, and remarkable diversity of life in the wild.

The Artist Gallery regularly invites professional and amateur photographers from around the world to showcase their work across a range of categories. After recently featuring the winners of its 2026 Landscape Photography Contest, we are now turning our attention to the winning and honorable mention images selected for this year’s Wildlife competition.

Scroll down to explore the winning wildlife photographs, and be sure to vote for the images that impressed you the most.

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#1 “Chasing Breakfast” By Charles Janson

Honorable Mention Photo description: “In the golden light of early morning, a Brown Bear in Alaska chases a salmon upstream. In late summer, bears are trying to eat as much as possible to build up fat for their long winter hibernation.”

#2 “My Hero!” By Preeti And Prashant Chacko

2nd Place Winner Photo description: “Being a mother bear is hard work! She not only has to feed the cubs but has to also stay alert and proactively keep her cubs away from the slightest danger. And this bear did it with great calm and grace . So much so that this cub seems to be looking up at her saying ‘Thank you. You are my hero!’”

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#3 “Glorious Hunting” By Panos Laskarakis

Honorable Mention Photo description: “In the Okavango Delta of the savage Botswana, the wild eye of the male lion through the carcass of the buffalo, as a result of an impressive hunt in the previous day! This is the wild nature where everything could happen with the perfect balance!”

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#4 “Reflected Curiosity” By Panagiotis Xaxiris

3rd Place Winner Photo description: “A young one-year-old male leopard in Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve catches its reflection in the polished surface of a safari vehicle’s bumper. Bathing in the warm golden hour light, this yearling’s curiosity is framed in a rare, self-reflective moment.”

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#5 “Attack From Above” By Panagiotis Xaxiris

Honorable Mention Photo description: “A dramatic and visceral aerial grapple between a Common Buzzard and a Western Marsh Harrier over the wetlands of the Amvrakikos Gulf in winter. Captured during hours of patient waiting from a hidden ground-level position, this split-second action highlights the raw intensity of apex predators.”

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#6 “Rite Of Passage” By Somdutt Prasad

Honorable Mention Photo description: “Two sub-adult Bengal tigers engage in a powerful mid-air skirmish in Tadoba, India. This display of agility and strength is a vital part of their development, as they hone the combat skills necessary to one day rule the jungle.”

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#7 “The Observer” By Dario Podesta

Honorable Mention Photo description: “A southern caracara surveys its territory from the highest rock in the Falkland Islands.”

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#8 “Grizzly Love” By Kyle Moore

Honorable Mention Photo description: “A female bear foraged peacefully along the shoreline until a determined male arrived, leading to a prolonged mating encounter as the rising tide surrounded them - a dramatic and rarely witnessed moment of wild bear behaviour. Lake Clarke, Alaska.”

#9 “King's Promenade” By Yoshiki Nakamura

Honorable Mention Photo description: “After spending a long time resting in the dense underbrush, this Bengal tiger in Kanha National Park, India, finally emerged - just as a patrolling elephant passed nearby. As if following a script, the tiger stepped confidently onto the very path I had been watching, offering a rare and unobstructed view.”

#10 “The Rugby Players” By Preet And Prashant Chacko

Honorable Mention Photo description: “Never having played rugby (or American football), we have often wondered what it would be like to be the recipients of a hard tackle. These egrets at Solio Game Reserve almost learnt that feeling when 5 muscular rhinos charged in their direction, but chose to fly out just in time!”

#11 “Lynx Family” By Roberto Carnevali

Honorable Mention Photo description: “A family of lynxes takes shelter inside a tree trunk on a hot summer day in the Austrian Alps. The father, mother, and two cubs are asleep. Only one cub is awake and looking around.”

#12 “Cormorant Landing” By Dario Podesta

Honorable Mention Photo Description: “A black-necked cormorant returns to its colony after fishing at sea. In Argentine Patagonia.”

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#13 “A Sunset Drink” By Jeremy Neipp

Honorable Mention Photo description: “As I was watching this past year's Great Horned Owl juveniles make their first flights out of the nest, one flew down by the pond to get a drink. Through a window in the brush and trees I was able to use my 135 1.8 to capture the fiery sunset colors and the Owlet hidden in the thicket.”

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#14 “The Silent Hunter” By Panagiotis Xaxiris

Honorable Mention Photo description: “A Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) hunting at low altitude over the wetlands of Chalastra, in the Axios Delta. The late afternoon light catches the owl mid-flight, emphasizing the immense wingspan and the perfect symmetry of its glide.”

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#15 “Under The Falling Snow” By Kyle Moore

Honorable Mention Photo description: “As snow drifts through the darkness, a fox pauses in a fleeting moment of calm amid the winter night.”

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#16 “Big Blue” By Kaushiik Subramaniam

Honorable Mention Photo description: “The largest known animal to ever live on the planet, a blue whale, rises for a breath off the coast of Mexico. We spotted the spout of this whale over a mile away and immediately knew what species it was. It sounded like a rocket taking off in the distance.”

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#17 “Juvenile Black Stork” By Chris Brain

Honorable Mention Photo description: “I was struck by the wing patterns of this juvenile Black Stork, as it rested its head in between bouts of preening. I wanted to fill the frame with those patterns to concentrate the eye.”

#18 “Algal Blanket” By Dario Podesta

Honorable Mention Photo description: “Observing from the top of a bridge over the river, I was able to photograph this black caiman stalking potential prey among the algae. North Argentina.”

#19 “A Mother's Touch” By Kaushiik Subramaniam

1st Place Winner Photo description: “A tender moment between a grey whale calf and its mother in their birthing lagoons of Mexico. Mothers and calves form a close bond in these lagoons, which will serve them well on their long journey back north to their Alaska feeding grounds.”

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#20 “Poise Of The Wild” By Dev Kumar

Honorable Mention Photo description: “This monochrome portrait captures an orangutan in a moment of quiet contemplation, chin resting on hand, gaze meeting mine with a calm, unguarded presence. Stripped of color, the image leans into shadow and texture, allowing form, expression, and emotion to take precedence over spectacle.”

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#21 “Choreography Of Light” By Yoshiki Nakamura

Honorable Mention Photo description: “Captured in Kushiro with a 1/4-second exposure, the whooper swans’ wingbeats dissolved into luminous arcs of motion. The reflected blue of the mountainside transformed their flight into an abstract dance—rhythmic, layered, and quietly breathtaking.”

#22 “Ray's For Days” By Brittany Ilardi

Honorable Mention Photo description: “In late spring, the waters around Baja California Sur are teeming with mobulas. Known as “fevers”, these groups of rays are often gathered by the thousands. This is a rare glimpse of mobulas in the clear blue. This species typically prefers murky plankton-rich waters.”

#23 Untitled By Kaushiik Subramaniam

Honorable Mention Photo description: “The connection of worlds. The grey whales of Mexico show a curiosity of humans unlike anything else in the world. In this image, a juvenile whale approaches a joyful tourist, as its mother watches from below. Intimate moments like these are truly life-changing.”

#24 “Innocence” By Preeti And Prashant Chacko

Honorable Mention Photo description: “A baby langur peers out from the safety of its mother's arms, expressing so many different emotions: mischief, curiosity, wonder and innocence.”