Animal Portraits - Highly Commended
Lorenz Andreas Fischer (Switzerland)
The hyena squad
Emerging from their den at dusk, the youngsters sniffed the air, turning their heads from side to side as they picked up Lorenz's scent. It was the 'blue hour', when the sun had dropped below the horizon, draining the sky of reds, yellows and oranges and leaving it saturated with indigo. These hyenas, in the remote Liuwa Plain National Park in western Zambia, were used to Lorenz. He'd already spent more than two weeks gaining the confidence of the clan, and by now the cubs would happily play close by. So when this curious squad of youngsters worked out who it was lying on the ground near their den, they relaxed, knowing he posed no threat.
Nikon D3 + Nikkor AF-S VR 70-200mm lens; 1/125 sec at f5.6; ISO 800; flash.
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Adult awards Social river Amazons Kevin Schafer
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Adult awards Water-scoop Jérôme Guillaumot
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Adult awards Puffin in the snow Jan Vermeer
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Adult awards Borneo baby Brian Matthews
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Adult awards Call of the raven Jarmo Manninen
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Adult awards Golden fly-by Andy Nguyen
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Adult awards Eyes in the oasis Lee Slabber
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Adult awards Wild, wild wolverine Sergey Gorshkov
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Adult awards Hare sitting tight Klaus Tamm
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The Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine.