An Italian photographer has been awarded the top prize in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition for his moving image of a mother elephant carrying her deceased calf. Federico Veronesi captured the photo titled “The Aftermath” while observing elephants in Namibia’s Huab River Valley. The photograph, which also won the Behaviour: Mammals category, depicts an adult female elephant with a calf’s leg caught between her tusk and trunk.
The chair of the 2026 competition’s jury, Kathy Moran, praised the photo, stating that it resonated emotionally and intellectually, showcasing the animals’ cognitive abilities. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest, organized by the Natural History Museum in London, aims to raise awareness about environmental issues through nature’s stories. This year’s event received over 65,000 entries from 121 countries.
In addition to the grand prize, the competition also recognizes young photographers, with this year’s Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year award going to Oscar Whitfield, a British photographer who captured a dung beetle at work in Zimbabwe. Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, a Canadian citizen living in Germany, received the Rising Star Award for his photo “Afternoon Snack” showing a robber fly preying on a flesh fly.
The exhibition of the winning photographs, including some highly commended Canadian entries, can be viewed at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria. The showcase will open at the Natural History Museum in London soon. Other category winners include images of a bee in flight, a newt protecting its eggs, glowing mushrooms, and an elephant interacting with zebras in Kenya.