Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024 Winners Announced!

5 Apr

A squirrel and a bee, two stoats playing, and a vole and shoe are the first, second, and third place winners of the Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024 competition, which explored mammalian connections with wildlife, humans, and the landscapes around them.

“Two different worlds in one interaction are captured beautifully here,” said judge and wildlife photographer Craig Jones of ‘The Squirrel and the Bee’, first place winner. “The look of wonder and curiosity from the squirrel looking at the bee tells such a wonderful story.”

Gary Watson, who took the photograph, won a trail camera courtesy of WildCare. “This beautiful wee red squirrel was playing in the trees in a spot I frequent near Elgin,” said Gary of the photo. “It just so happened that the bee flew by. It’s lovely the things you see when you sit and wait for nature to come to you.”

Gordon Roach won second place in the competition for his photo ‘Stoat Kits Playing’. “Having had the occasional garden visit by a stoat, one of my lockdown projects was to build a dry-stone wall with a pipe network. This has the desired effect and I regularly saw a stoat using it and then kits playing during that summer,” Gordon, from Ballindalloch, said. Dani Connor, judge and wildlife photographer, commented of the photo: “What an exceptional moment of a species you don’t see often!” Gordon won a 1 year subscription to British Wildlife Magazine courtesy of NHBS.

In third place, Jon Kelf’s photo ‘Putting your Foot Down’ from Norfolk won him ‘The Age of Deer’ book. “It started when I became disabled at the end of 2019 with Stiff Person Syndrome. I could hardly get out of the house so could only get to the patio to photograph wildlife. Then lockdown happened so the voles got lots of attention. I did notice that at times, the voles were in my shed and greenhouse so one day I sat patiently and watched. It wasn't long before one appeared by my work boots!” Jon said.

The under 18 category of the competition was won by Beau Healy, for which they received an art print. “The birds feed on the skin parasites that feed on the deer, and the deer get rid of the irritating ticks and fleas,” Beau said of the winning photo ‘Two for Joy’. Three other categories, including an adult and young People’s Choice and Mobile Photo award, were won by Alice White, Phoebe Mann, and Ian Wood for their photos ‘Winter Wonderland’, ‘Red Squirrel’, and ‘Cashpoint’.

The competition was judged by Craig Jones, Dani Connor, Billy Heaney, and Karen Miller. 20 other photos and series made it to the Highly Commended list, including ‘Brown Hare in a Snowy Landscape’, ‘Mother at Peace’, and ‘Bull Breach’.

“It was very tough to decide on the final list of Highly Commended photos from the judges’ choices,” Alana Scott, Communications Officer at the Mammal Society, said. “We had such a diverse array of hundreds of amazing portrayals of mammal connections. A huge thank you to everyone who entered the competition to show the connections mammals share with us, each other, and their environments.”

The winners and commended photos will be displayed at the Mammal Society’s Annual Conference at Robinson College, Cambridge, on Friday 12th April 2024.