Emperor penguins rule wildlife photo awards

A SUNLIT mass of emperor penguins charge towards the surface of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, in this striking image captured by Canadian Paul Nicklen, overall winner of Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

He said: “It was a fantastic sight as hundreds launched out of the water and on to the ice above me – a moment that I felt incredibly fortunate to witness.”

Owen Hearn, 14, won the Young Photographer of the Year award for his photograph of a red kite above his grandparents’ farm in Bedfordshire.

Grégoire Bouguereau won the Behaviour Mammals category for his photograph of a group of cheetah cubs watching an injured gazelle calf in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.