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Federico Veronesi, an Italian photographer based in Italy, won the top prize at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 competition with his black and white image titled "The Aftermath." The photograph depicts a female elephant carrying her dead calf in the Huab River Valley in Namibia. Run by London’s Natural History Museum, this year’s event received a record-breaking 65,403 entries from 121 countries and territories. Kathy Moran, chair of the judging panel, described the image as emotionally gut-punching and intellectually proof that animals possess cognition.

Oscar Whitfield, a British photographer living in Zimbabwe, took home the youth category award with his black and white photo "Labour of Love." His work shows a dung beetle pushing a ball of dung across dusty ground. For the first time in the competition’s 62-year history, both the adult and young overall winners were recognized for their black and white images. Dr Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, stated that these photographs demonstrate the power of wildlife photography to help people see nature differently and understand why protecting the natural world is crucial.

An exhibition featuring the winning images will launch on Friday, October 16, at the Natural History Museum. The competition continues its mission to celebrate the complexity of the natural world and highlight the importance of conservation through visual storytelling.