These 18 images won judges over in the 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest

A young monkey sleeping peacefully in an adult’s arms, a lynx stretching and a tiger resting on the Indian hillside: these are just a few of the winners of this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

The annual competition, hosted by the Natural History Museum , began in 1965 as a magazine contest with 361 entries. Fast forward to today, the competition is in its 60th year and saw a whopping 59,228 entries from 117 countries and territories, the museum said in a press release.

Winners were announced at an awards ceremony in London.

Of those who compete, 18 are chosen as winners in categories exploring animals in their environment, animal behavior and also plants and fungi. The images will be part of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London from Friday to June 29, 2025.

In the meantime, take a look at more of this year’s winners below.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

This year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year, organizers announced, is Marine Conservation Photojournalist Shane Gross from Canada. His image “The Swarm of Life” captures a group of tadpoles as they swim underwater in  British Columbia’s Cedar Lake.

To capture the image, Gross peered under the surface layer of lily pads. He snorkeled in the lake for hours, trying not to disturb the layers of silt and algae covering the lake’s bottom. If disturbed, the silt and algae would’ve made the photograph difficult to take and Gross’ subjects hard to see, the museum said.

“The jury was captivated by the mix of light, energy and connectivity between the environment and the tadpoles,” Kathy Moran, chair of the jury and editor, said in the press release. “We were equally excited by the addition of a new species to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year archive.”

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year

This year’s Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year is Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, a German photographer who captured a close-up shot he titled “Life Under Dead Wood.” In the photograph, he captured the bodies of a tiny springtail and slime mold.

“Alexis quickly rolled over a log to take the intriguing image, moving fast as springtails can jump many times their body length in a split second,” the museum said, adding that he used a technique called focus stacking to capture the moment.

With focus stacking, 36 images focusing on different areas are combined, according to the museum.

More winners from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: These 18 images won judges over in the 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest