MATING lions roar at one another on a windswept plain in an image in line for a major honour.
Stormy Scene, taken by Brit William Fortescue, 30, in Tanzania, was one of a dozen shortlisted for this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.
London-based William, who specialises in shots taken from just yards away, watched the lions for days to capture the image.
He said: “I was going to have to get as close as I thought safely possible to a wild lion. No easy task.”
Other shortlisted images released by organisers included a shot of a requiem shark in a final act of resistance after being caught by a ship in the South Atlantic Ocean.
A cute pair of curious tawny owls were captured nestling in the trees of Munich, Germany, by 11-year-old Sasha Jumanca.
Other top entries showed a rare yellow “David Bowie” spider, named after the late singer for his Ziggy Stardust character, building a web in Malaysia.
A snap of a jackdaw bird carrying precious rocks to its nest was commended in the behaviour section, while a stoat twisted mid-air as it jumped over snow in France.
Kathy Moran, chair of the judging panel, said: “In this selection, you see species diversity, a range of behaviour and conservation issues.
“These images represent the evolution of the competition through the years, from pure natural history to photography that fully embraces representation of the natural world – the beauty and the challenges.”
This year also marks the first time an image taken on a smartphone has been in contention for the top prize, with Randy Robbin’s photo of the frosted body of a deer on the forest floor ranking on the shortlist.
Winners of the annual contest, which attracted 59,000 entries, will be announced on October 8.
