{"id":356712,"date":"2026-03-25T05:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T05:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/356712\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T05:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T05:08:08","slug":"lynx-and-rodent-photo-wins-wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-public-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/356712\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynx and rodent photo wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year public vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

News<\/a><\/p>\n

By Josh Davis<\/p>\n

First published 25 March 2026<\/p>\n

A photo of an Iberian\u00a0lynx playfully throwing\u00a0its\u00a0prey\u00a0in the air has\u00a0been crowned the winner of\u00a0the\u00a0Nuveen People\u2019s Choice Award\u00a02026.<\/p>\n

Titled\u00a0Flying Rodent,\u00a0the image\u00a0by Josef Stefan\u00a0soared to\u00a0first\u00a0place\u00a0after more than\u00a085,000 people across the world\u00a0took part in the public vote.<\/p>\n

Once pushed to the brink of extinction, the Iberian lynx is now seen as a conservation success story. <\/p>\n

The cats had long been top of Josef\u2019s list to photograph. He finally got the opportunity to do this from a hide at Torre de Juan Abad in Ciudad Real, central Spain. Josef watched the lynx toy with the rodent for about 20 minutes before it got bored and ate it. It\u2019s common for lynx to play with their prey before killing it. <\/p>\n

This playful but grisly scene impressed the public, who chose Josef\u2019s photo as the winner of the Nuveen People\u2019s Choice Award 2026.<\/p>\n

Symbols of hope<\/p>\n

The Iberian lynx was once one of the most endangered mammals in the world. <\/p>\n

One of four species of lynx, they\u2019re only found on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. The charismatic cats are known for their spotted, reddish-brown fur and black-tufted ears. These features help them blend into the Mediterranean landscape while they hunt. <\/p>\n

While their camouflage didn\u2019t save them from near extinction, the cats have since become icons of hope. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re an amazing conservation success story,\u201d says one of our researchers, Dr Natalie Cooper<\/a>. \u201cIn the early 2000s only around 100 individuals were left in a few small pockets of habitat in Spain. Only 62 of these were mature individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several factors caused their steep decline. As open scrubland and oak woodland disappeared, there were fewer places for the lynx to live. Humans also persecuted them, wrongly thinking they killed livestock. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey actually mostly feed on rabbits,\u201d Natalie continues. This brought in a third threat: \u201cTheir populations also suffered when big outbreaks of disease decimated rabbit populations during the twentieth century.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservationists had known for decades that lynx faced an uncertain future. But when the species was declared Critically Endangered in 2002, they really focused their efforts. Nature-based solutions included creating corridors between habitats, habitat restoration and protecting their rabbit prey. <\/p>\n

Scientists also ran a highly successful captive breeding and reintroduction programme. Several cats were brought into captivity so they could start new populations. Before they could be reintroduced to the wild, the resulting kittens were trained to hunt and, crucially, avoid people.<\/p>\n

As a result, seven new Iberian lynx populations were established across Spain and Portugal. The number of individual cats rose by 1,500% over 20 years. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a remarkable achievement that required collaboration among scientists, government agencies, NGOs and local communities,\u201d says Natalie. <\/p>\n

\u201cA true example of what we can do if we work together.\u201d <\/p>\n

Josef says that taking this winning photo was the realisation of a dream that has been with him for years. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Iberian lynx is a living symbol of hope, showing what can happen when we take responsibility, act consciously and focus our attention where it\u2019s most needed,\u201d says Josef. \u201cWinning this award and being able to platform this message is the highlight of my 30 years as a nature photographer.\u201d <\/p>\n

Browse the top five photos from the competition<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s runners-up include a group of flamingos standing out against an industrial backdrop of power lines and a family of polar bears resting in the summer heat.<\/p>\n

You can visit our online gallery to see these photos alongside images from previous People\u2019s Choice competitions<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News By Josh Davis First published 25 March 2026 A photo of an Iberian\u00a0lynx playfully throwing\u00a0its\u00a0prey\u00a0in the air…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-356712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}