Best photos of the week
Our Photographer of the Year 2020, with a stunning safari prize provided by Djuma Private Game Reserve, is now in full swing.
The overall winner, first runner-up, and second runner-up (along with their partners), will experience the ultimate private safari at Djuma Private Game Reserve, located in the Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve in the Big 5 Greater Kruger, South Africa. Read about the safari enjoyed by the 2019 winners here.
There are three galleries showcasing this week’s Weekly Selection. To see the other gallery click here: Gallery 2, Gallery 3 
? Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins ride a wave off the coast of Port Elizabeth, South Africa © Alex Oelofse
? A leopard bounds effortlessly up a tree trunk. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Alice van Kempen
? A protea’s nectar attracts a variety of life, including this female malachite sunbird. Giants Castle, Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa © Clint Ralph
? A giraffe stretches forward to drink from a waterhole. Onguma, Namibia © Marcus Westberg
? A marabou stork swallows a fish whole. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Dawie Maree
? A fascinating aerial shot of a collapsed tree. Kalahari © Dr Vidette Bester
? An African openbill selects a freshwater mussel as its next meal. Kruger National Park, South Africa © John Mullineux
? A cattle herder protectively watches over his resting cattle. Omo Valley, Ethiopia © Kevin Dooley
? A jackal pup peeps out of its den. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Marcus Westberg
? A spotted eagle-owl comes in to land, displaying its incredible wingspan. Mpumalanga, South Africa © Clint Ralph
? A backlit ring-tailed lemur prepares to leap from a prickly pear cactus. Berenty Reserve, Madagascar © Nick Parayko
? A pair of painted wolves with the remains of an impala carcass. Zimanga Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Nick van de Wiel
? A male lion silhouetted by a spotlight. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Clint Ralph
? Three cheetah cubs playing on a termite mound. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Marcus Westberg
? A young mountain gorilla climbs higher to reach more eucalyptus bark, referred to “gorilla chocolate”. Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda © Peter Derry
? The characteristic head flick of a giraffe gathering the necessary momentum to stand upright once again after drinking. Ndutu Conservation Area, Tanzania © Santosh Saligram
? A coalition of five cheetahs, the Tano Bora males, march in single file. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Sergi Ortega
? Thousands of red-billed queleas in flight. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Sophie Brown
? A family of eastern lowland gorillas are the picture of familial contentment as they rest cocooned by the surrounding vegetation. Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo © Marcus Westberg
? A dark-coloured Cape cobra. Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa © Thilo Beck
? A barn owl perched on a barbed wire fence, listening intently in the darkness. Pienaarsrivier, South Africa © Thinus van Staden
? A Cape shoveler prepares for take-off. Ogies, South Africa © Clint Ralph
? A bemused gemsbok stares down at a sunbathing bateleur. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Vittorio Ricci
? A formidable coalition of five male cheetahs on the hunt for a potential meal. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Xavier Ortega
? The scars on the face of a male lion map out the story of a life of conflict in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Sergi Ortega
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