23 Wildlife Photos From The Natural History Museum Competing For The People’s Choice Award

On February 4th, the global public is invited to take part in one of the most anticipated moments in wildlife photography as the Wildlife Photographer of the Year launches online voting for its iconic People’s Choice Award. Organized by the Natural History Museum, the award celebrates the images that resonate most strongly with audiences around the world.

Selected from more than 60,000 submissions, this curated shortlist features photographs that narrowly missed the final Top 100 exhibition but stood out for their creativity, originality, and technical excellence. Today, we are aiming to showcase 23 of those pictures that caught our eye the most here at Bored Panda.

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Photo by Will Nicholls.

Among the nominees are emotionally charged moments that feel almost cinematic: bear cubs standing face to face on a quiet road as headlights approach, a surreal scene of flamingos gathered beneath endless power lines at dusk, and an intimate underwater ballet of dolphins moving as one. Other images reveal nature’s hidden worlds, from a detailed macro portrait of a spider that feels larger than life to a tiny crab hitching a ride atop a glowing jellyfish in the dark ocean.

Photo by Alexandre Brisson.

Photo by Charles Davis.

There are also powerful reminders of conservation realities, including portraits of armed rangers standing before mountains of confiscated snares, and tender aerial views of polar bear families navigating a rapidly changing Arctic landscape. Each photograph tells a story that goes far beyond a single frame.

The People’s Choice Award gives the public the final say, turning viewers into jurors and allowing them to decide which image best represents the spirit of this year’s competition. It is a rare opportunity to engage directly with visual storytelling that blends art, science, and urgent environmental awareness on a global stage.

Photo by Josef Stefan.