Rare Iberian Lynx Playing With Food Is People’s Choice of 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The results are in for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Nuveen People’s Choice Award 2026. You’ve had your vote and have made Austrian photographer Josef Stefan the winner with his photo titled Flying Rodent. It shows a young Iberian lynx mid-play, tossing a rodent into the air in Ciudad Real, Spain.

Josef’s photo beat out twenty-three other shortlisted images to claim the award. This year’s contest saw a record-breaking 85,917 votes cast by wildlife lovers around the world. The competition itself drew 60,636 entries from 113 countries and territories.

What makes the image so captivating is definitely the action, as Josef captured that split second of a lynx gleefully launching a rodent skyward. However, there’s more than what meets the eye. Speaking about his image, Josef explained that he’d spent two weeks observing lynx from a hide at Torre de Juan Abad. This particular game, you see in the image, played out over a full 20 minutes before the lynx eventually got bored and wandered off behind a bush for a private dinner. It’s a glimpse into behaviour that’s completely natural for the species. I mean, it’s a cat being a cat. :) Nevertheless, we rarely see it in the wild, let alone photograph it like this.

But there’s an even bigger story woven into this image. The thing with the Iberian lynx is that it’s one of the rarest wild cats on the planet. In the early 2000s, it was teetering on the brink of extinction. Today, the population has climbed to over 2,000, entirely due to sustained conservation efforts. In Josef’s own words:

“The Iberian lynx is a living symbol of hope, showing what can happen when we take responsibility, act consciously and focus our attention where it’s most needed. Winning this award and being able to platform this message is the highlight of my 30 years as a nature photographer.”

The four highly commended images are equally worth your attention. Alexandre Brisson captured flamingos standing vivid pink against the cold geometry of power lines in Walvis Bay, Namibia. Christopher Paetkau photographed a mother polar bear and her three cubs resting together on the Hudson Bay coast in the summer heat. This photo warmed my heart. Will Nicholls caught two young bear cubs silhouetted and rearing up against each other on a road in Jasper National Park, Canada. And Kohei Nagira’s image is quite different from the other images that are either playful or serene. It shows a sika deer carrying the interlocked severed head of a rival male. Just a reminder that this is nature, too. Unfiltered, harsh, and untamed.

The award is run by Wildlife Photographer of the Year at the Natural History Museum, London, with Lead Corporate Sponsor Nuveen. Flying Rodent will go up on the gallery wall alongside the main competition winners, and the full selection of shortlisted images will be on display at the NHM exhibition until it closes on 12 July 2026. If you’re in London before then, it’s well worth the visit. And if not, you can check out the full gallery here, along with the People’s Choice winners from the previous years.

---