Here Are the 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Winners

From spawning fish and ravenous grizzly bears to battling reindeer and kissing ravens, the year’s best wildlife photography will leave you breathless.

It’s that awesome time of year when we get to marvel at the best wildlife photos from the past 12 months. The Natural History Museum in London develops and produces the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, which dates back to 1965. As we’ve come to expect from this annual competition, the winning selections are all remarkable accomplishments in their own right. Each submission, of which there were over 50,000 this time around, was assessed anonymously by a panel of judges and evaluated according to “originality, narrative, technical excellence and ethical practice,” according to an emailed press release.

This year’s contest involved 19 different categories, including some new ones, such as “Oceans—The Bigger Picture” and “Wetlands—The Bigger Picture.” And in keeping with tradition, the competition also awarded two grand title winners: the overall wildlife photographer of the year and young wildlife photographer of the year.

The top 100 images will go on display at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition hosted by London’s Natural History Museum starting October 15, 2021.