Who won wildlife photographer of the year 2026?

Italian photographer Federico Veronesi has won the award for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 with his captivating monochrome picture of an elephant carrying a dead calf in the Huab River Valley of Namibia.

Veronesi witnessed the picture while chasing the elephants and finding odd dragging traces on the sand in a dried riverbed. An elephant appeared with the calf's leg held between its tusk and trunk. The researchers were able to identify the elephant as a female elephant that had lost a calf years ago and used to carry calves of other female elephants.

"This is the saddest, most fascinating, and dramatic of all 20 years of photographing animals," Veronesi stated. "I hope that the picture will make people understand that the animal kingdom is full of individuals that have relationships and memories and feelings like us."

The competition, which is organized by the Natural History Museum in London, saw an all-time high participation of 65,403 from 121 countries. In what is seen as a historical moment, both adult and junior overall winners have been honored for black and white photographs.

Oscar Whitfield, a 14-year-old Zimbabwean/UK photographer, was crowned Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year for capturing "Labour of Love," which shows a dung beetle rolling a dung ball up a hill in the Zambezi National Park. He managed to capture this by lying on the floor while photographing the beetle at eye level.

Some of the winning photos include Amelie Davis's smartphone picture of a bumblebee in Surrey, James Lewin's infrared image of an elephant and zebras in Kenya, and Aaron Sanders's octopus photograph from Cornwall.

The exhibition will be held at the Natural History Museum starting Friday, 16 October 2026.