2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Laurent Ballesta's quest for the enigmatic tri-spine horseshoe crab led him to the protected waters of Pangatalan Island in the Philippines. The marine biologist is an experienced underwater photographer. His extensive expeditions have yielded unparalleled images. It's Ballesta's second Wildlife Photographer of the Year Grand Title in three years; he also won it in 2021.

The winning picture in the category Animal Portraits is Vishnu Gopal's shot of a tapir as it cautiously emerges from the Brazilian rainforest. After discovering hoofprints near his camp, Gopal's patience paid off with this captivating long-exposure portrait. Lowland tapirs play an essential role in the ecosystem as seed dispersers, but they are threatened by habitat loss and illegal hunting.

Amit Eshel captured the dramatic clash between two Nubian ibex in this shot, which picked up the award in the Animals in their Environment category. Positioned on a cliff's edge in Israel's Zin Desert, Eshel used a wide-angle lens to frame this fierce battle against a stunning backdrop. In the lead-up to mating season, male ibex's coats darken and their neck muscles bulge.

Karine Aigner won the Photojournalist Story Award with her photos documenting annual hunting competitions in Texas, US. State hunting regulations protect different game species, but certain predators like bobcats (photo) can be hunted anytime and by any means. Aigner's series portrays the gatherings that celebrate the hunting of these vulnerable and often misunderstood creatures.

Dutch photographer Lennart Verheuvel won in the Oceans: The Bigger Picture category with this shot of a beached orca's final moments. Despite initial rescue efforts, it became stranded again and died. It was later found to have been very ill due to malnourishment. Orcas in European waters are affected by the high concentrations of banned chemicals, such polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.

Russian photographer Mike Korostelev won in the Underwater category with this photo of a hippopotamus mother and her offspring resting in the crystal-clear waters of a shallow lake. He spent more than two years visiting the hippos so they could get used to his boat's presence. He only needed 20 seconds underwater to capture this image from a safe distance, ensuring the mother remained undisturbed.

French photographer Luca Melcarne won the Rising Star Portfolio Award with this shot of a wild ibex. He spent a bone-chilling night in a temporary shelter in the French Alps, following a six-hour ski trek to get there, and worked with a camera thawed with his breath to capture this portrait.

Teenage photographer Carmel Bechler, from Israel, won the Young Grand Title Winner 2023 with this photo of barn owls in an abandoned building near a busy road. The Wildlife Photographer Award-winning photos are on show until April 14, 2024 at the 3 Landesmuseum in Braunschweig, Germany, and until June 30 at the Natural History Museum in London.