In Pics | Wildlife Photographer of The Year 2021 winners

With more than 50,000 entries from 95 countries to choose from, the Natural History Museum revealed the winners of its Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition at an online awards ceremony today. Here's a look at the winning photos from this year's contest, which will be displayed at the London-based museum from October 15.

Winner, natural artistry: Bedazzled, by Alex Mustard, UK. A ghost pipefish hides among the arms of a feather star. His image conveys the confusion a predator would be likely to face when encountering this kaleidoscope of colour and pattern. The juvenile’s loud colours signify that it landed on the coral reef in the last 24 hours. In a day or two, its colour pattern will change, enabling it to blend in with the feather star. Credit: Alexander Mustard/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, photojournalism: Elephant in the room, by Adam Oswell. Australia Zoo visitors watch a young elephant performing underwater. In Thailand, there are now more elephants in captivity than in the wild. With the Covid pandemic causing tourism to collapse, elephant sanctuaries are becoming overwhelmed with animals that can no longer be looked after by their owners. Credit: Adam Oswell/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, rising star portfolio award: Cool time, from land time for sea bears, by Martin Gregus, Canada/Slovakia. On a hot day, 2 female bears cool off and play. For him, the heart shape symbolises the apparent sibling affection between them and ‘the love we as people owe to the natural world’. In summer, they live mainly off their fat reserves and, with less pressure to find food, become more sociable. Credit: Martin Gregus/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, underwater: Creation, by Laurent Ballesta, France. A trio of camouflage groupers leaves a milky cloud of eggs and sperm. Spawning happens around the full moon, when up to 20,000 fish gather in Fakarava in a narrow, southern channel linking the lagoon with the ocean. Overfishing threatens this species, but here the fish are protected within a biosphere reserve. Credit: Laurent Ballesta/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, 10 years and under: Dome home, by Vidyun R Hebbar, India. Vidyun watches a tent spider as a tuk-tuk passes by. Tent spiders are tiny – this one had legs spanning less than 15mm. They weave non-sticky, square-meshed domes, surrounded by tangled networks of threads that make it difficult for prey to escape. Instead of spinning new webs every day, the spiders repair existing ones. Credit: Vidyun R Hebbar/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, 15-17 years: High-flying jay, by Lasse Kurkela, Finland. A Siberian jay flies to the top of a spruce tree to stash its food. Lasse wanted to give a sense of scale in his photograph of the jay, tiny among the spruce. Siberian jays use old trees as larders. Their sticky saliva helps them glue food, such as seeds, berries, small rodents and insects, high up in the holes and crevices of the bark and among hanging lichens. Credit: Heikki Kurkela/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, portfolio award: Face-off, from Cichlids of Planet Tanganyika, by Angel Fitor. Spain Two male cichlid fish fight over a snail shell in Lake Tanganyika. Lake Tanganyika is home to more than 240 species of cichlid fishes. But this incredible ecosystem is under threat from chemical runoff from agriculture, sewage, and over-exploitation by the unregulated ornamental fish trade. Credit: Angel Fitor seaframes.com/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, animals in their environment: Grizzly leftovers, by Zack Clothier, US. A grizzly bear takes an interest in Clothier’s camera trap. Clothier bridged gushing meltwater with fallen trees, only to find his setup trashed. This was the last frame captured on the camera. Grizzlies, a sub-species of brown bears, a light form of hibernation. Emerging in spring, they are hungry and consume a wide variety of food, including mammals. Credit: Zack Clothier/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, behaviour; mammals: Head to head, by Stefano Unterthiner, Italy. Two Svalbard reindeer fight for control of a harem. Reindeer are widespread around the Arctic, but this subspecies occurs only in Svalbard. Populations are affected by the climate crisis, where increased rainfall can freeze on the ground, preventing access to plants. Credit: Stefano Unterthiner/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, plants and fungi: Rich reflections, by Justin Gilligan, Australia. A marine ranger is reflected among the seaweed. At the world’s southern-most tropical reef, Gilligan wanted to show how careful human management helps preserve this vibrant seaweed jungle. Impacts of the climate crisis, such as increasing water temperature, are affecting the reefs. Credit: Justin Gilligan/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, 11-14 years: Sunflower songbird, by Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco, Spain. As light faded at the end of a warm May afternoon, Andrés’ attention was drawn to a warbler flitting from flower to flower. Melodious warblers are one of more than 400 species of songbird known as old world warblers, which each have a distinctive song. Credit: Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, photojournalist story award: The healing touch, from community care, by Brent Stirton. South Africa The director of the Lwiro Primate Rehabilitation Centre, in Kinshasa, cuddles a chimp orphaned by the bushmeat trade. Young chimps are given one-to-one care to ease their psychological and physical trauma. These chimps are lucky, as fewer than one in 10 orphans are rescued. Credit: Brent Stirton/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, behaviour; birds: The intimate touch, by Shane Kalyn, Canada Ravens during a courtship display. It was midwinter, the start of the ravens’ breeding season. Ravens probably mate for life. This couple exchanged gifts – moss, twigs and small stones – and preened and serenaded each other with soft warbling sounds to strengthen their relationship, or ‘pair bond’. Credit: Shane Kalyn/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, urban wildlife: The spider room, by Gil Wizen, Israel/Canada. Wizen found one of the world’s most venomous spiders, a Brazilian wandering spider, guarding its brood under his bed. Before safely moving it outdoors he captured this spider. Brazilian wandering spiders roam forest floors at night in search of prey, such as frogs and cockroaches. Their toxic venom can be deadly to mammals, including humans, but it also has medicinal uses. Credit: Gil Wizen/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winner, behaviour; amphibians and reptiles: Where the giant newts breed, by João Rodrigues, Portugal. Rodrigues is surprised by a pair of courting sharp-ribbed salamanders. Found on the Iberian Peninsula and in northern Morocco, the salamanders use their pointed ribs as weapons, piercing through their own skin and picking up poisonous secretions, then jabbing them into an attacker. Credit: Joao Rodrigues/2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year