The best wildlife photos of 2024: a badger looking at a badger graffiti won everyone over

The best photos were chosen at the 2024 wildlife competition. The People's Choice Award from the Natural History Museum in London went to a photo of a badger admiring a Banksy-style image.

In the photo, the badger seems to be admiring the graffiti depicting its relative. An interesting moment was captured by British photographer Ian Wood on a quiet road in St. Leonards-on-Sea, England, the BBC reports.

However, the photographer admitted that the picture was not completely accidental, because he had planned it. Ian explained that he once noticed badgers coming out of a neighboring settlement and running to a specific place to get food.

"For two years I have been photographing badgers. And this particular photo came as an idea. I thought it would be interesting to place graffiti there and see if I could depict a badger under it," said the photographer.

Ian Voodoo emphasized that he would like to dedicate his victory to all those who are fighting for the badger conservation. After all, the English authorities have introduced a program to exterminate these animals to curb the spread of tuberculosis among cattle.

"I would immediately exchange this award for the government to cancel all existing badger culling licenses because it is a national disgrace," said the British photographer.

In total, the 25 nominated images for the People's Choice Award for Wildlife Photographer of the Year received a record 76,000 votes from wildlife fans around the world, according to the contest organizers.

It is known that in addition to the winning image, four other finalists received high praise. In particular, the award went to David Northall's photo of a bloody but determined honeybee chasing a porcupine in Botswana.

Among the best is Michel d'Oltremont's photograph of a "ghost" ermine.

Viewers also highlighted Jess Findlay's "At the Edge of the Night," where a pheasant flies out of an old barn to hunt in the fields near Vancouver.

An amazing photo of a double lenticular cloud illuminated by lava from the Villarrica volcano in Chile made it to the top five.

All five selected images will be exhibited online and at the Natural History Museum in London until June 29.

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