Extraordinary snaps from around the world for the Nature Photographer of the Year awards
Every year, the Nature Photographer of the Year awards showcase the best that Mother Nature has to offer.
For the 2023 competition, photographers from all around the world have captured beautiful snaps of wildlife in their natural habitat, picturesque landscapes and much more.
The annual competition is an initiative of Nature Talks, the organisation responsible for the Nature Talks Photo Festival that takes place in the Netherlands.
This year, the competition saw entrant from South Africa, Germany, the USA, England, Finland, France, Luxembourg and many more corners of the globe.
This year's winner is a photographer hailing from Canada, Jacquie Matechuk, who stole the show with her photo of the Spectacled Bear.
Chairman Marco Gaiotti explained why her photo was chosen as the winner, "The Spanish moss hanging from this centuries-old fig tree gives an incredible sense of three-dimensionality while the soft light filtering through the colours highlights the profound connection between species and habitat in this image."
"Finally, the pose of this spectacled bear fits perfectly into the texture of the photograph. Congratulations to Jacquie Matechuk for this outstanding photograph of the spectacled bear."
All image credits: Nature Photographer of the Year