Oscar Whitfield was on a family game drive in Zimbabwe when he saw a dung beetle struggling up a patch of sand.
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beetle → see → sand
The beetle was pushing a ball of dung uphill, with a line of flies following behind.
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line → push → flies
This moment caught Whitfield’s eye.
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moment → catch → eye
He captured the rare moment.
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He → capture → moment
Titled ‘Labour of Love’, the photograph earned the British photographer the Young Grand Title at the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
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photograph → title → competition
Labour of Love
Pic credit: Oscar Whitfield
Oscar Whitfield, who lives near Victoria Falls, spotted the dung beetle while on a family game drive in Zimbabwe’s Zambezi National Park.
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who → live → Park
He wanted to capture the moment in all its glory.
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He → want → glory
So, instead of standing over the beetle to take the picture, he lay down in the dust.
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he → stand → dust
His camera sat at the same height as the insect.
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camera → sit → insect
He tried different angles and compositions before settling on one.
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He → try → one
The black-and-white photograph captured how hard the beetle works at a job that looks simple from above.
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that → capture → job
“I hope that when people look at the photograph, they can see too, and maybe appreciate how much can be happening in a small moment in the natural world,” Whitfield said after winning the Young Grand Title, the BBC reported.
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BBC → hope → Title
From a bumblebee captured mid-flight to a blackbird singing at dawn, this year’s winning photographs celebrate the beauty and diversity of the natural world, capturing extraordinary moments that often go unnoticed.
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that → capture → moments
Photographer: Federico Veronesi, Italy
- Category: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026
- Location: Huab River Valley, Namibia
Italian photographer Federico Veronesi won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 title for capturing a ‘heartbreakingly poignant’ image of a female elephant carrying a dead calf through Namibia’s Huab River Valley.
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Veronesi → win → Valley
“Of all the 20 years I’ve spent photographing animals, this is the most heart-wrenching, fascinating and dramatic,” Veronesi said.
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Veronesi → spend → animals
He described the photograph as “revealing of the depth and complexity of the emotions, the feelings of the animals”.
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He → describe → animals
According to Kathy Moran, chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year jury, the winning photograph “says it all”.
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photograph → accord → it
“This photograph works on so many levels.
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photograph → work → levels
Emotionally, it’s a gut punch, heartbreakingly poignant.
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it → ’ → ?
Intellectually, it’s proof that animals have cognition.”
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animals → ’ → cognition
Photographer: Amelie Davis, UK
- Category: 10 Years and Under
- Location: Surrey, England
Amelie Davis, who is in the 10 Years and Under category, took her winning photograph in her garden in Surrey, England, using her dad’s smartphone.
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who → take → smartphone
She proved that a perfect photograph does not need a plane ticket or fancy cameras.
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photograph → prove → ticket
The picture freezes one wingbeat from a common carder bumblebee as it gets ready to land on a flower.
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it → freeze → flower
The bee looks almost still, which is the point.
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which → look → ?
The moment lasts only a fraction of a second.
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moment → last → second
Location: Chyulu Hills National Park, Kenya
James Lewin captured the animals in their habitat.
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Lewin → capture → habitat
His black-and-white photograph shows a young bull elephant spraying zebras at a waterhole.
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elephant → show → waterhole
He used an infrared-converted camera to soften the harsh light and create a dreamlike effect.
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He → use → effect
Birdsong Painted in Light
Pic credit: Konrad Gräeter
- Photographer: Konrad Gräeter, Germany
- Category: 15–17 Years
- Location: Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Konrad Gräeter went to a vineyard in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, at sunrise.
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Gräeter → paint → sunrise
Spring is when male blackbirds climb to high places and sing to attract a mate.
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blackbirds → climb → mate
Dawn is when they sing their most complicated songs, and Gräeter was there to capture the moment.
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Gräeter → sing → moment
Pic credit: Sitaram Raul
- Photographer: Sitaram Raul, India
- Category: Behaviour: Invertebrates
- Location: Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India
Sitaram Raul spent his nights in India’s Thar Desert looking for scorpions.
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Raul → spend → scorpions
He saw many of them hunting in the dark.
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many → see → dark
Once the sun came up and the temperature climbed, the scorpions had to get out of the heat.
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scorpions → come → heat
This one dug into the shifting sand, and Raul caught it halfway through the process.
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Raul → dig → process
Meanwhile, the exhibition opens at the Natural History Museum on Friday, 16 October 2026.
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exhibition → open → Friday
The Aporia
