A nosy polar bear and a lucky squirrel: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 shortlist
BBC News · C · trust 54/100
How would it feel to find yourself face to face with one of the Arctic's most formidable predators?
This stunning image captures life from a seal's perspective. Taken by Norwegian wildlife photographer Audun Rikardsen, it was among the 'Highly Commended' entries in this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
While working as a guide with Arctic Wildlife Tours, Rikardsen rigged an underwater camera with a motion sensor beneath a seal's breathing hole, and then waited. At 4am, a female polar bear approached and peered down.
Rikardsen then waited eight hours for the bear to move away before retrieving the camera and reviewing the images.
When he saw what he had captured, he said: "I was so extremely happy. I was screaming, so I probably woke up all the polar bears for miles."
Rikardsen has previously won two Wildlife Photographer of the Year categories: Birds in 2019 and Oceans: The Bigger Picture in 2025 .
The overall winners will be announced on Tuesday 13 October 2026, followed by an exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London , external from Friday 16 October 2026.
Scroll down to explore other highly commended works from the competition.
Crockford watched swifts return to London after their annual migration from Africa, filling the air with their high-pitched calls. Most flew too high to photograph, but a few lower-flying ones gave Crockford the opportunity to capture the picture he wanted.
Swifts spend almost their entire lives in the air, usually landing only to nest.
After rainfall, Miyazawa came across an Eastern Japanese toad making its way along a city street. He used a slow shutter speed to photograph it before it hopped back into the bushes.
Eastern Japanese toads are typically found in forests, grasslands and other terrestrial habitats across eastern Japan, but they have also proved remarkably adaptable to urban environments.
Category: Highly Commended, Behaviour: Mammals
Location: Kvænangen, Troms County, Norway
Aasen was flying a drone for the Norwegian Orca Survey when he noticed an adult orca carrying the body of a deceased calf through a Norwegian fjord.
The orca repeatedly allowed the calf to sink before bringing it back to the surface, a difficult moment to watch but one that Aasen felt was important to record.
The behaviour may have been an attempt to revive or protect the calf. Killer whales have previously been observed carrying deceased calves, including a case where a female Southern Resident killer whale carried her dead calf for at least 17 days.
A 2026 study , external suggests that this type of behaviour may be more widespread across the species than previously thought.
Category: Highly Commended, Animal Portraits
Location: Sierpe, South Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Only when they reviewed the images did the Grammatico twins realise they had captured a mosquito resting on the head of a fer-de-lance viper. They described it as "one of the most demanding focus stacks we've ever created".
Highly venomous and responsible for more fatal snake bites in Central America than any other species, the fer-de-lance is well camouflaged and can blend into plantation habitats, sometimes going unnoticed by workers.
Category: Highly Commended, Animal Portraits
Location: Meeting of the Waters State Park, Northern Pantanal, Brazil
Parkinson photographed a black vulture perched over a dead yacaré caiman in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands, keeping his boat at a distance and using a long telephoto lens to capture the shot.
A jaguar waiting out of frame emerged after the vulture flew away to claim the carcass. Only then did Parkinson notice a suspiciously clean, straight wound on the back of the caiman's head, possibly caused by a blow from a speeding boat, he suspects.
Category: Highly Commended, Animals in their Environment
Location: Namib Desert, near Swakopmund, Namibia
Tromp was photographing a Namaqua chameleon in the Namib Desert when the wind suddenly intensified, bringing a sandstorm that quickly reduced visibility and made breathing difficult.
These chameleons are desert specialists and can obtain moisture directly from the air. Dew gathers on their skin and is channelled towards their mouths through microscopic grooves, while their tongues can also collect fog water condensed on plants, sand and rocks.
Category: Highly Commended, Behaviour: Birds
Location: Ashnil Aruba Lodge, Tsavo East National Park, Kenya
Máté was watching birds gather at a small pond when tens of thousands of red-billed queleas swept down to drink in the golden late-afternoon light. The movement of so many wings created a rush of air that, he says, could be felt from 30m (98ft) away.
Red-billed queleas can gather in flocks of up to two million and are considered the most abundant wild bird on Earth, with an estimated 1.5 billion breeding adults.
Category: Highly Commended, Behaviour: Birds
Location: Manyeleti Game Reserve, Mpumalanga, South Africa
While searching the reserve for wildlife, Porter photographed a red-billed oxpecker rubbing its bill against a white rhino's skin in the afternoon light. The birds feed on insects living on rhinos and can also act as sentinels - calling to warn their hosts when danger approaches. In Swahili, the red-billed oxpecker is known as askari wa kifaru, meaning "the rhino's guard".
Category: Highly Commended, Behaviour: Mammals
Hutton had watched a young leopard pursue a squirrel into a tree, having earlier seen the cat unsuccessfully attempt to stalk a rabbit. The squirrel escaped by climbing higher, leaving the leopard clinging on before it eventually made an awkward retreat.
For young leopards, survival is far from guaranteed: fewer than half reach independence, with male leopards, lions and other predators among the threats they face.
Category: Highly Commended, Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles
Location: Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana
An African bullfrog lunges for a babul butterfly but misses.
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