Want to see a troublemaking penguin? What about a startling starling murmuration? A curious lion cub? A very very sleepy polar bear? Well, you, dear reader, have lucked out.
All of the above appear in the shortlist for the Natural History Museum's annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice awards. But which picture is best? That's up to you – the museum has invited all photography fans to select their favourites.
But before you do, take a look through our gallery of all of the images in the running for this year's prestigious award.
Troublemaker
An Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) approaches an emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) and its chick during feeding time in Antarctica’s Atka Bay. Photo by Stefan Christmann/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Aurora jellies
Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) swarm in the cool autumnal waters of a fjord outside Tromsø in northern Norway. In the sky above the aurora borealis illuminates the sky and is reflected in the water. Photo by Audun Rikardsen/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Starling murmuration
A mesmerising mass of starlings swirl into the shape of a giant bird on their way to communal roosts above the city of Rome, Italy. Photo by Daniel Dencescu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A rare sight
The rarest species of wild dog in the world, the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) takes a rest among the highland vegetation of Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains National Park. The summer greens and blues provide the perfect backdrop for the chestnut tones of the Ethiopian wolf’s coat in this serene image. Photo by Axel Gomille/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Duckling huddle
A wood duck (Aix sponsa) and its brood are caught in a late spring snowstorm in Smiggin Holes, New South Wales, Australia. Photo by Charles Davis/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The Grassland Geladas
A gelada (Theropithecus gelada) suckles its baby alongside a companion at the edge of a plateau in the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia. Photo by Marco Gaiotti/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Opportunity fox
A young red fox (Vulpes vulpes) takes advantage of a bin stacked high with rubbish before collection day on a street in London, UK. Photo by Matt Maran/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Snowshoes
A snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) pulls its feet to its head to make the next big hop across the soft, deep snow in the forests of the Rocky Mountain National Park, USA. Photo by Deena Sveinsson/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Ice bed
A polar bear (Ursus maritimus) carves out a bed from a small iceberg before drifting off to sleep in the far north, off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. Photo by Nima Sarikhani/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Tough negotiation
Standing on a rock in the Judean Foothills of Israel, a red fox cub (Vulpes vulpes) locks eyes with the shrew it had thrown up in the air moments earlier. Photo by Ayala Fishaimer/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Homecoming
A pygmy round-eared bat (Lophostoma brasiliense) returns to its termite nest home as two well-camouflaged family members look out from the entrance in the lowland forests of Costa Rica. Photo by Dvir Barkay/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Rubbish drinks
On the beach at the Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia, a crested black macaque (Macaca nigra) drinks from a discarded plastic bottle. Macaques have learnt that these bottles contain liquid and they search through the pile to find those from which they can drink. They have also learnt that coloured bottles possibly contain sweet liquid and picked these out of the pile preferentially. Photo by Claire Waring/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Looking at me looking at you
A grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) rises up on its hind legs and glances towards the photographer before returning to fish for salmon in the Chilko River in British Columbia, Canada. Photo by John E. Marriott/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Missed sip of milk
A humpback whale calf (Megaptera novaeangliae) misses some of its mother’s milk, which drifts and swirls in the currents off the coast of Rurutu, French Polynesia. Photo by Karim Iliya/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Autumn glow
A painting-like composition of bulrushes and quaking aspens is framed in a small corner of the Cabriel River in the Sierra de Albarracín Mountains, Spain. Photo by Uge Fuertes Sanz/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Curiosity
Under the watchful eye of its mother in South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park, a curious lion cub walks towards the photographer (who was watching from a vehicle). Photo by Gerald Hinde/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Neighbourhood dispute
A mudskipper fiercely defends its territory from a trespassing crab in Roebuck Bay, Australia. Photo by Ofer Levy/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Swallow over meadow
A barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) flies over a meadow of cornflowers, catching insects during springtime in eastern Germany. Photo by Hermann Hirsch/Jan Lessman/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Hope
A rescued chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) looks on from its enclosure at the Chimpanzee Conservation Center in the Republic of Guinea. Photo by Roberto García-Roa/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The happy turtle
A Balkan pond turtle (Mauremys rivulata) shares a moment of peaceful coexistence with a northern banded groundling dragonfly in Israel’s Jezreel Valley. Photo by Tzahi Finkelstein/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Incoming cuckoo wasp
A cuckoo wasp (Chrysididae) is captured mid-air trying to enter a mason bee’s clay burrow as a smaller cuckoo wasp cleans its wings below. Photographed near Montpellier, France. Photo by Frank Deschandol/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Shared parenting
A pair of lionesses (Panthera leo) devotedly groom one of the pride’s five cubs in Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Photo by Mark Boyd/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Fashion victims
These coats, made from the skins of some of the most endangered big cats, were confiscated by European customs officers and held for forensic tests before being used for educational events. Photo by Britta Jaschinski/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A bull in a garbage dump
A male bull elephant is seen kicking over garbage while scavenging at a garbage dump on the outskirts of town of Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka. A scar from a gun-shot wound is clearly seen on his upper left front leg. Photo by Brent Stirton/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Tender touch
A pair of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) tenderly touch noses high in the Cairngorms mountains, Scotland, UK. Photo by Andy Parkinson/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
James Cutmore is the picture editor of BBC Science Focus Magazine. He has worked on the magazine and website for over a decade, telling compelling science stories through the use of striking imagery. He holds a degree in Fine Art, and has been nominated for the British Society of Magazine Editors Talent Awards, being highly commended in 2020. His main areas of interest include photography that highlights positive technology and the natural world. For many years he was a judge for the Wellcome Trust's image competition, as well as judging for the Royal Photographic Society.
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