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London’s Natural History Museum in South Kensington has just launched their fifty-third Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. The exhibit features 100 original photographic images that record the beauty and drama of the natural world, from tiny insects to massive mammals.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition Winners and Exhibit

The 2017 competition attracted almost 50,000 entries from professionals and amateurs across 92 countries.The winning images were selected by a panel of judges for their creativity, originality and technical excellence. Images get bonus points if they tell a broader story about the current challenges facing wildlife and the environment.

This year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year winning image, by photojournalist Brent Stirton is difficult to look at. It captures the aftermath of an act of brutality: a dead black rhino, killed for its commercially valuable horn.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition Winners and Exhibit — ‘Memorial to a Species’ by Brent Stirton of South Africa is winner of Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2017

Museum mammal expert Richard Sabin explains why images like this matter, despite being hard to look at: “The outlook is bleak for black rhinos. They have been critically endangered since 1996, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports that the population has declined by an estimated 97.6% since 1960.

The mammals are slaughtered in huge numbers for their horns, which are used in traditional medicine and for decoration, and can be worth more than their weight in gold in illegal international markets.

Saving the Survivors</a> start the long process of healing the face of a rhino whose horn was hacked off by poachers. Saving Hope © Brent Stirton. — Members of the conservation organisation Saving the Survivors start the long process of healing the face of a rhino whose horn was hacked off by poachers. Saving Hope © Brent Stirton.

Global demand for the horns fuels both crude poaching networks in southern African countries (the heartland of the black rhino) and larger organized crime networks.”

Photojournalist Brent Stirton is documenting the cruelty and tragedy of the trade in rhino horn.

You can learn more about Hope’s Story here.

Caring for Lulah © Brent Stirton. This orphan is called Lulah. Her mother was killed in Kruger National Park in South Africa.

2017 is the first year Brent has won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year grand title. He has won Wildlife Photographer of the Year photojournalism awards in the past, along with many other international awards for his long-term investigative projects. See more of his amazing work at his website here.

Visit Saving The Survivors