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Jaw - dropping images capture the natural world , including an aging engrossed tiger as well as an elephant wad through credit card , have been revealed as the winners and runner - up of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation ’s 2025 Environmental Photography Award .

The annual photography competitor is split into five category : Polar Wonders , Into the Forest , Ocean Worlds , Humanity versus Nature , and Change Makers : Reasons for Hope .

a tiger looks through a large animal�s ribcage

“Forest Guard,” by Bambang Wirawan, winner of the Student’s Choice Award.

A shot of maritime worm pushing plumes of George Sand from the tops of their cone - form burrows , captured byAngel Fitorin Spain in 2023 , pull ahead the Ocean Worlds family and the overall grand prize , the basis annunciate Tuesday ( May 6 ) .

" These burrowing worms play a pivotal role in exert oxygen and nutrient circulation in the upper layer of sediment on the ocean floor , an activity that generate an entire ecosystem hide out under the substrate , " Fitor tell ina statement . " On localization , it was insufferable to predict when the worms would be active . This photo is the resolution of two month ' piece of work , with twenty honkytonk of five hours each . "

" Unseen Unsung Heroes , " by Angel Fitor , winner of the Overall Grand Prize and winner of the Ocean Worlds category .

An underwater photograph of plumes of sand rising from the ocean floor

(Image credit: Angel Fitor)

" The Passenger , " by Pietro Formis , runner - up in the Ocean Worlds category .

" Portrait of a Leafy Seadragon , " by Daniel Sly , contrabandist - up in the Ocean Worlds category .

runner - up in this class admit an epitome of a diminutive octopus exquisitely balanced on top of Portuguese man-of-war - like animals call salpa , snapped in the Philippines in 2024 byPietro Formis , and an eerie paradigm of a leafy ocean dragon off the Australian coast , photograph byDaniel Slyin 2024 .

a tiny octopus balanced on top of a jellyfish-like animal

(Image credit: Pietro Formis)

The win simulacrum in the Polar Wonders category was a spectacular guessing of a Leo the Lion ’s mane man-of-war . The photo was taken off the coast of Greenland in 2019 byGalice Hoarau . " Autumn in the East Greenland fjords is teeming with life , especially planktonic metal money range from petite copepods to large Portuguese man-of-war such as this lion ’s head of hair jellyfish ( Cyanea capillata ) with its long stinging tentacles cast elegantly through the water , " Hoarau enunciate in thestatement .

link up : whitish Way heading : See reverence - inspiring figure of our coltsfoot

A melt iceberg drifting in the water supply off Iceland , taken by Michaël Arzur in 2024 , and a battle between two female musk oxen ( Ovibos moschatus ) in Norway , snapped byMiquel Angel Artús Illanain 2021 , were discover runners - up in this category .

a dramatically lit underwater photo of a leafy seadragon

(Image credit: Daniel Sly)

" Jellyfish and Iceberg , " by Galice Hoarau , success in the Polar Wonders category .

" Ephemeral , " by Michaël Arzur , runner - up in the Polar Wonders category .

" Female Fight , " by Miquel Angel Artús Illana , runner - up in the Polar Wonders category .

a photo of a colorful jellyfish swimming past an iceberg

(Image credit: Galice Hoarau)

A photo capturing a violent scrap between two male stag mallet , drive byIacopo Nerozziin Italy in 2022 , make headway the Into the Forest category .

" During the mating season , male stag beetle ( Lucanus cervus ) go into a craze , with lively but harmless clashes , in which bigger males often have the advantage over smaller ones due to their impressive jawbone , " Nerozzi said in thestatement .

David Herasimtschuk ’s image of an adult and several juvenile coho salmon ( Oncorhynchus kisutch ) , demand in the U.S. Pacific Northwest in 2023 , andSantiago J. Monroy García ’s photograph of an Andean bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ) lurking in the Colombian woodland , captured in 2023 , were named runner - up .

A dramatically lit photo of a glacier

(Image credit: Michaël Arzur)

" Clash of Kings , " by Iacopo Nerozzi , achiever in the Into the Forest category .

" Coho Salmon in a Log social system , " by David Herasimtschuk , smuggler - up in the Into the Forest class .

" God in the darkness , " by Santiago J. Monroy García , runner - up in the Into the Forest family .

two bison fight

(Image credit: Miquel Angel Artús Illana)

In the Humanity versus Nature class , the winner was a picture taken byAmy Jonesin 2023 . It testify an elderly distaff Indo - Taiwanese Panthera tigris ( Panthera Tigris River corbetti)named Salamas on a Panthera tigris farm in northerly Thailand . " For over 20 eld , she was confined in this batting cage and used as a breeding machine , producing greenhorn for diligence ranging from tiger touristry to the illegal trade in hide , teeth , clappers , claws and meat , " Jones pronounce in thestatement . " Despite her frail and emaciated stipulation , Salamas survived the 12 - hour journey to their 17 - acre tiger sanctuary forest , where she was able-bodied to tramp freely and experience grass beneath her paws and the warmth of the sun on her fur for the first clock time in two decades . Unfortunately , Salamas perish nine months after being rescued . "

An icon of an Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ) wading through a soup of pliant waste matter in Sri Lanka , taken byLakshitha Karunarathnain 2023 , and a photo of rattlesnakes piled up in a pit in Texas , taken by Javier Aznar in 2020 , were the runners - up .

" Breeding Machine , " by Amy Jones , winner in the Humanity versus Nature category .

Two large beetles fight in mid-air

(Image credit: Iacopo Nerozzi)

" camouflage in the Garbage Dump , " by Lakshitha Karunarathna , contrabandist - up in the Humanity versus Nature category .

" No atmosphere in the Pit , " by Javier Aznar , Caranx crysos - up in the Humanity versus Nature category .

The winner of the Change Makers : Reasons for Hope category was an mental image of a baby numskull sea turtle ( Caretta caretta ) that Fitor took in a recovery center in Spain in 2022 . The runners - up were two images of rehabilitate armadillo and anteaters , both byFernando Faciole .

a salmon nestled in an underwater log structure

(Image credit: David Herasimtschuk)

Faciole ’s range of a South American tapir ( Tapirus terrestris ) recovering from grievous burn injuries in Brazil in 2024 gain the Public Award , while the Student ’s Choice Award succeeder was Bambang Wirawan ’s photograph of a Sumatran Panthera tigris ( Panthera tigris sumatrae ) in Indonesia , snap from inside the bloody costa cage of its prey .

" education Day , " by Angel Fitor , victor in the Change Makers : understanding for Hope category .

" Caring for the Unseen Giants , by Fernando Faciole , runner - up in the Change Makers : reason for Hope category .

a black bear emerges from a shadowy forest

(Image credit: Santiago J. Monroy García)

" Little Giant ’s Walk , " by Fernando Faciole , runner - up in the Change Makers : understanding for Hope category .

" After the Flames , Hope , " by Fernando Faciole , achiever of the Public Award .

— Beginner ’s guide to wildlife photography

An emaciated tiger presses their head against the wall of their enclosure

(Image credit: Amy Jones)

— Camouflaged animals are hiding in every one of these photo — can you spot them all ?

— awe-inspiring photograph of nocturnal animals

" Images immediate conversation and consideration of how we can protect and value these unreplaceable environments across the planet . They abbreviate through apathy , capture reality , evoke empathy , and ignite action,“Ami Vitale , a National Geographic photographer and documentary movie maker and president of the awards ' jury , say in the statement . " Through this visual spiritualist , we reconnect people with nature , foreground not only the hazard but also the promise and the Bob Hope that exists all around us . "

a bird’s eye view of an elephant in a dump of plastic waste

(Image credit: Lakshitha Karunarathna)

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children look in through windows to a pit full of snakes

(Image credit: Javier Aznar)

baby sea turtles swim in their enclosure

(Image credit: Angel Fitor)

a man holds an armadillo’s foot

(Image credit: Fernando Faciole)

an anteater with bandaged feet runs behind a caretaker

(Image credit: Fernando Faciole)

a tapir with bandaged feet plays in its enclosure

(Image credit: Fernando Faciole)

A photo of a volcano erupting at night with the Milky Way visible in the sky

Eye spots on the outer hindwings of a giant owl butterfly (Caligo idomeneus).

Screenshot from a video of a family of four snow leopards prowling through the snow in the mountains of northern Pakistan.

a wispy white spiral galaxy seen in front of hundreds of background stars

Wild and Free Running Wolves in Yellowstone National Park, USA.

A female polar bear and two cubs lie in the snow surrounded by scrubby plants.

A photograph of two of Colossal�s genetically engineered wolves as pups.

Beautiful white cat with blue sapphire eyes on a black background.

two white wolves on a snowy background

a puffin flies by the coast with its beak full of fish

Two extinct sea animals fighting

Man stands holding a massive rat.

An image comparing the relative sizes of our solar system�s known dwarf planets, including the newly discovered 2017 OF201

an illustration showing a large disk of material around a star

a person holds a GLP-1 injector

A man with light skin and dark hair and beard leans back in a wooden boat, rowing with oars into the sea

an MRI scan of a brain

two ants on a branch lift part of a plant