Heartbreaking Photo of Elephant Carrying Her Dead Calf Wins 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 has announced this year’s winners. Italian photographer Federico Veronesi won the grand prize for The Aftermath, a black-and-white image that made me shed a tear. It shows a female elephant carrying her dead calf through the Huab River Valley in Namibia, with the calf’s leg is wedged between her tusk and trunk.

[Related Reading: Rare Iberian Lynx Playing With Food Is People’s Choice of 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year]

Federico was tracking elephants when he noticed an unusual pattern of drag marks in the sand of a dry riverbed. Their source became clear when he caught up with the family group and the female emerged carrying her calf.

Elephants have been observed responding to death in several ways: vocalizing, guarding the dead, inspecting and handling bones, and carrying the deceased. Some researchers think these behaviors could show an elephant’s journey to understanding death. Others interpret them as possible displays of grief.

“This photograph works on so many levels,” said Kathy Moran, Chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Jury. “Emotionally it’s a gut punch, heartbreakingly poignant. Intellectually it’s proof that animals have cognition. This photograph says it all!”

Besides the overall title, the image won Federico the Behaviour: Mammals category.

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year Gets Down in the Dust With a Dung Beetle

The Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year title went to Oscar Whitfield, a British photographer who lives in Zimbabwe. His image Labour of Love won the 11–14 Years category and shows a dung beetle pushing its precious cargo through Zambezi National Park. To get the beetle at eye level, Oscar lay flat on the ground in the sun and heat while dry dust rose all around him.

The dung beetle deserves more credit than it usually gets. There are more than 5,000 species around the world. By breaking up dung and burying it, they help cut methane emissions and reduce the number of pests affecting livestock and wildlife.

“This is exceptionally well done,” said jury member Jasper Doest. “Photographing such a small, constantly moving subject is challenging, yet the image feels so intentional. The composition reveals an entire story and by doing so the photograph quietly reveals how life cycles depend on what we often overlook or dismiss.”

Two Category Winners Were Shot on Smartphones

This is the part of this year’s contest that has encouraged me because my gear is very basic. If you ever feel discouraged because all you have is your smartphone, think of these two.

In the Urban Wildlife category, Seth Forestson won with Urban Jungle, shot on a Google Pixel 7 Pro. A common water monitor carries a fish through Bangkok’s Lumphini Park with the city skyline behind it. Finding these lizards was easy. Catching one doing something other than basking in the sun was the hard part. When Seth finally spotted this one with its supper, he got down on the mud to frame it against the skyline.

Amelie Davis won the 10 Years and Under category with Flight of the Bumblebee, which shows a common carder bee frozen mid-air as it flies in to land on a flower. Amelie had been photographing bees for several months. On this August afternoon the garden was “teeming with bees,” but she didn’t have her camera with her, so she borrowed her dad’s iPhone 14 Pro Max. Using the 13mm ultrawide lens, she caught the detail of a single wingbeat.

About Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the 2026 Exhibition

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. This year’s winners were chosen from a record-breaking 65,403 entries from 121 countries and territories, so the competition has broken its own record once again. It’s also a first for monochrome: in the competition’s 62-year history, the adult and young overall winners have never both been black-and-white images until now.

The winning photos go on display at the Natural History Museum, London on October 16, 2026, and stay there until July 11, 2027. The exhibition will also go on a UK and international tour. As last year, it will include the Museum’s Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), which measures how much of a region’s natural biodiversity remains, on a scale from 0 to 100%.

If London isn’t on your route, the full winning gallery is below. You’ll find more information and images on the Wildlife Photographer of the Year website, where you can also submit your photos for the 2027 contest. Yes, even the ones taken on your phone. Good luck!

Category Winners of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026

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