Favorite Wildlife Pictures 2016

After spending the day hunting for sardines this Cape Gannet is on final approach to Malgas Island, one of the most important breeding colonies in the world. The number of Cape Gannets has plummeted by 50% since the 1960s and today their future survival is intrinsically linked to the health of sardine and anchovy stocks.

A leopard walks across a bridge in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai, India. About 35 leopards live in and around the park. “Leopards have lived in the area for centuries along with humans,” says photographer Steve Winter.

A tomato clownfish keeps a watchful eye on its eggs in Anilao, Philippines. The image shows “the intense investment of parenting in the sea,” says photographer David Doubilet.

A weasel blends into its snowy surroundings in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. “There was something very beautiful and mystical about the tiny, pure white weasel as it bounded through the snow,” says photographer Charlie Hamilton James.

A herd of wild mustangs tears across the plains of Winnemucca, Nevada. “Wild horses hold a special place in my heart,” says photographer Melissa Farlow. “The horse is powerful, wily and fearless, yet can be steady and trusting.”

Lemon sharks hunt at dusk in the Bahamas, which has one of the highest concentrations of sharks in the world. “Shark populations in the Bahamas are protected,” says photographer David Doubilet. It’s “a global model for shark conservation.”

A four-year-old bonobo walking across a fallen tree gave photographer Christian Ziegler a curious stare. “It was a great moment,” says Ziegler, “he stayed with me for a few seconds, then his mama came back and they took off.”

Photographer Charlie Hamilton James captured this infrared image in the Serengeti. “The two cheetahs got up from the rock they were lying on to watch a distant lioness walking across the plain,” says Charlie Hamilton James, “and for a few moments everything fell into almost perfect symmetry.”

In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a 14-day-old harp seal pup jumps into the water for the first time. “He just floated there in the icy water, while figuring out what to do next, which allowed me to make this portrait,” says photographer Brian Skerry.

An American alligator warms itself in shallow waters in Georgia’s Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. “Alligators are not warm and fuzzy creatures,” says photographer Melissa Farlow, “but I am fascinated with this primitive reptile.”

Male parasitic wasps swarm a fragrant orchid. “The flower is only open for less than five minutes before it is shredded to pieces by the competing male wasps,” says photographer Christian Ziegler.

A blue cod emerges from behind soft coral in a New Zealand marine reserve. “To me it was like an otherworldly place, removed from view and hidden, but very special,” says photographer Brian Skerry.

A tiger cub and its mother cuddle up together in Bandhavgarh National Park, India. “It took so long to see something so iconic,” said photographer Steve Winter, who spent months in the field without seeing small cubs.

A Ruppell’s griffon vulture takes a break from feeding on a bloody carcass in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. “Vulture populations are in rapid decline across Africa,” says photographer Charlie Hamilton James.

A hungry bronze whaler shark charges into a school of sardines in the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa. It was, “one of the most incredible wildlife encounters of my life,” says photographer Thomas Peschak.