Here are the Top 105 entries in our 2024 Photographer of the Year! We will announce the overall winner and two runners-up at the beginning of July. Each of the three winners (the overall winner plus two runners-up) will become a personal sponsor of a wild Hwange lion research collar. Winners and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley on a conservation safari in Botswana. Read more about the Photographer of the Year 2024 prizes here .
Photographer of the Year is now closed for entries. Final judging will take place throughout the month of June 2024.
Photographer of the Year is sponsored by Imvelo Safari Lodges . In association with Southern African Conservation Trust (SACT) and WILDCRU .
This is Gallery 4 of the Top 105. To see the other Photographer of the Year Top 105 galleries, click here: Gallery 1 ; Gallery 2 ; Gallery 3
Zebras traverse the planes below the gaze of the mystical volcano, Ol Doinyo Lengai. Arusha, Tanzania. © Jack Swynnerton “A puku escaped death from a pack of wild dogs by jumping into the wetland, only to be met by an ambitious crocodile. The crocodile ‘bit off more than it could chew’, and this lucky young male miraculously escaped!” South Luangwa National Park , Zambia. © Marc Mol Wildebeest commune along the Mara River, before deciding not to cross. Mara Conservancy, Kenya . © Vicki Jauron Cheetah cubs observe their surroundings as their mother rests. Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. © Alia Noordin Developing eggs can be seen inside the translucent body of a green bright-eyed frog – endemic to Madagascar. Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, Madagascar. © Hema Palan Channelling Africa. Thousands of flamingos gather at the edge of Lake Bogoria for the breeding season, their formation a homage to the African continent. The water is coloured brown from recent rains, which carried water from the mountains into the lake. Great Rift Valley, Kenya . © Alexandre Bès “While I was trekking for mountain gorillas, the dominant silverback casually flopped down directly in front of me, observing his reflection in the lens of my camera. Surrounded by thick vegetation, I had nowhere else to go. I kept a submissive posture with my eyes downcast. He stretched out his hand to touch his reflection in the lens and for the briefest moment I imagined him extending his hand to greet me as an old friend. A moment in time that will stay with me for the rest of my life.” Rwanda. © Dewald Tromp Walk of life. A herd of elephants follow their matriarch across the dry lake bed to get to the swamps. Amboseli National Park, Kenya. © Nili Gudhka Competing for love in the deserts of Chad. A group of young Wodaabe men participate in a ritual dance during the Gerewol festival. During the celebration, men decorate themselves and perform for women in the hopes of finding a partner. Dourbali, Chad. © Inger Vandyke A red-billed hornbill chick, nearing fledgling status, peers into the “outside” world from the relative safety of its mud-sealed nest hollow in a mopane tree. Kruger National Park , South Africa. © Tristan Masterton The many faces of a future generation. Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana . © Keith Bannerman Colour in abstraction. A yellow-headed dwarf gecko photographed on the east coast of Zanzibar . Tanzania. © Dean Polley Giza Mrembo, the black leopard of Laikipia. “She patrols her territory in the early mornings. She checks her territorial boundaries for intruders in the night. She takes time to refresh each of her scent markers. Here, something catches her eye, high up in a shepherd’s tree – but it is a false alarm, and she carries on with her routine checks.” Laikipia, Kenya. © Dan Peel Not missing a thing in the forest, an older chimpanzee’s gaze is fixed on the photographer. Gishwati Makura National Park, Rwanda . © Tiffany Franks A flamboyance of flamingos takes off from the lake in an explosion of colour. Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya. © Glenn Minten Opportunity makes a thief. A hyena attempts to pilfer a wild dog kill. Mana Pools National Park , Zimbabwe. © Jannes Drotsky “I was contributing to the work of a research team recording behaviour within a pod of sperm whales. That day, we were lucky to find several of the pod members together, socialising.” Port-Louis, Mauritius. © Vanessa Mignon Playing peek-a-boo. Okavango Delta , Botswana. © Karin van Couwenberg A young baboon tests the limits of its agility. Amboseli National Park, Kenya. © Bettina Villabruna On a rainy morning, a single African penguin on Boulder’s Beach stares into the shallows – a metaphor for the diminishing numbers of this endangered species. Cape Town , South Africa. © Andries Janse van Rensburg Men of the tribes of Omo Valley in ceremonial attire, bedecked in leopard and cheetah skins . Tumi, Ethiopia . © Huizhen Huang A broad-headed bug strikes a Napoleonic pose. Karura Forest Reserve, Kenya. © Peter Derry Two black-maned lions of the Maasai Mara, Olobor and Olonyokie, have a tiff over breakfast. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Elizabeth Yicheng Shen Survival of the fittest. After entering and hoping to take over new territory, this leopard killed the cub of the dominant male – ensuring that its mother will go into estrous. This allows the new male to sire new cubs and ensure the survival of his own bloodline. Sabi Sands Game Reserve , South Africa. © Janice Katz A southern white rhino – translocated to a new safe haven – is seen to by the vet team. Here, the rhino has its ear notched, which allows researchers to identify different individual rhinos. South Africa. © Wiktoria West A striking little egret launches off inky-looking water – as pretty as a painting. Knysna, South Africa. © Geo Cloete To comment on this story: Login (or sign up) to our app here - it's a troll-free safe place 🙂.
