20 of the best entries for the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2025

, The TimesSilhouette of a stag exhaling breath illuminated by golden light against a black background.

Golden stag: Thomas Durrant, 17, of London, was declared the overall winner for this picture taken in Richmond Park. “Everything came together — the stag, the light, the positioning,” he said. “I live near Richmond Park so I’m often there taking photographs of the red deer. I’ve spent hours there perfecting my shots of them and over time, you get to know them. They’ve all got individual personalities and attitudes”

THOMAS DURRANT

Badger leaping in a field of golden stubble, illuminated by the low sun.

Leaping into the golden wild: Shelby Grant, 15, of Hatfield, won the 12-15 category for this shot of a badger running through a newly cut field at sunset

SHELBY GRANT

A robin with an open beak, perched on a branch surrounded by pink cherry blossoms.

A blossom perch: Sam Morris was commended in the 12-15 category for this picture of a robin

SAM MORRIS

Barn owl with white face and grey and brown spotted feathers, looking over its shoulder against an orange and green blurred background.

Golden hour barny: James Clark’s barn owl was commended in the 12-15 category

JAMES CLARK

A cormorant with a fish in its beak, surrounded by water droplets against a dark background.

Splash of survival: Ben Lucas was commended in the 16-18 category

BEN LUCAS

A tiny, dark-feathered baby bird with a light beak rests in a blue crocheted nest next to a bottle of Troy B-Complex.

Crochet comfort: Jamie Smart was runner-up in the Better World for Animals category with this picture of a rescued baby bird

JAMIE SMART

A red-backed shrike perches amidst green leaves and white-pink flowers.

Red-backed shrike in Cambridgeshire: Jack Brackley, 13, was the Better World for Animals winner with his picture of a rare red-backed shrike at RSPB Fen Drayton Lakes, the first to be spotted in the county since 2021 and only the 22nd since 1980

JACK BRACKLEY

A close-up of a bat being fed by a syringe, with its tongue out.

Caped crusaders: Jamie Smart, 10, of Llandrindod Wells, Wales, was the inaugural winner of the Documenting Animals category. The brief was three photos which told a story, and one of them was this shot of a grey-headed flying fox being rehabilitated at Australia Zoo in Queensland

JAMIE SMART

Black bird with white head flying with an egg in its mouth over a cliff and the ocean.

Life and death on the cliffs: Eilidh Shannon was the Documenting Animals runner-up with her shot of an egg theft

EILIDH SHANNON

A hiding hedgehog peeks out from under a colorful blanket, resting on newspaper.

A hiding hedgehog: Polly Bradbury was commended in the Mobile Phone and Devices category for this cosy picture

POLLY BRADBURY

A dog looking down into a hole in the sand.

Dig, dig, dig: Casper White was runner-up in the Mobile Phone and Devices category

CASPER WHITE

A dog lying on its back in the grass with its mouth open, seen from a low angle.

Garden goof: Satsuki Whittle, 13, of Newcastle, won the Pet Personalities category with this snap of her dog, Rex, lounging in the garden

SATSUKI WHITTLE

A guinea pig with brown and white fur, named Pip, looking at the camera.

Pip: another triumph for Jamie Smart, who was Pet Portraits runner-up. Entries were judged anonymously, underlining Jamie’s achievement

JAMIE SMART

Close-up of a bee on a white flower with an orange center, surrounded by other white flowers.

Autumnal bee: Thomas Easterbrook was commended in the Small World category

THOMAS EASTERBROOK

Close-up of a baboon embracing a younger baboon.

Motherly love: Jamie Smart was runner-up in the Under 12 category with this picture of a mother baboon and her baby

JAMIE SMART

Happy Hugo, a turtle with a light shell, swims towards the camera.

Happy Hugo: Jamie Smart, commended in the Under 12 category

JAMIE SMART

A small brown bird with its beak open wide, perched on a barbed wire fence.

Open wide: another commended for Jamie Smart in the Under 12 category

JAMIE SMART

A small bird with brown and white feathers peeking out from a circular pipe opening in a stone wall, next to a green plant.

Looking out into a concrete jungle: Sam O’Donnell, 17, of London, won the Urban Animals category with his shot of a sand martin at his local reserve in Walthamstow Wetlands

SAM O’DONNELL

A white egret splashing in water, seen from above, its reflection visible, against a dark background.

The ethereal egret: Fred Wall was commended in the 16-18 category for this shot of an egret breaking the surface of water

FRED WALL

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