Italian photographer Federico Veronesi won Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 for The Aftermath, a photograph of a female elephant carrying a deceased calf in Namibia’s Huab River Valley. Veronesi followed drag marks across a dry riverbed to find the elephant with the calf’s leg wedged between her tusk and trunk and later learned from a local elephant research project that the female had lost a calf years earlier and had been seen picking up dead calves belonging to other females. Veronesi called the encounter "heart-wrecking and fascinating and dramatic" and said he hopes the image prompts people to recognise animals as individuals with memories and emotions. The competition’s annual exhibition opens at the Natural History Museum on 16 October 2026. Oscar Whitfield won Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year for Labour of Love, a low-angle shot of a dung beetle pushing a ball of dung uphill near Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, which he captured while on a family game drive. Organisers said the contest attracted a record-breaking number of entries this year, and the winning images include other scenes from urban and marine settings such as an urban coyote and increased sightings of common octopuses in south-west England as waters warm.
