2005: Animals in their Environment - Highly Commended Print
Hans Wolkers (The Netherlands)
Cave bear
Bears have personalities. It just takes a while to get to know them. When the salmon migrate up the rivers in South-east Alaska and the bears gather to feed on them, it's the big, bold bears that are usually photographed. Hans spent a week watching bears fishing, but the one that really caught his eye was a shy black bear. His first sighting of it was a glint among the rocks - a wet nose as the bear peeked out. Once the male was sure that there were no other, more dominant bears around, he crept out, rushed down to the river, snatched a salmon and then bounded back to his cave to eat it in safety.
Canon EOS 1V HS with 500mm f4 lens and 1.4x extender; 1/30 sec at f8; Fujichrome Velvia 50 rated at 80; tripod
View other winners in this category
-
Adult awards Whooper swans at dawn Martin Eisenhawer
View
-
Adult awards Swifts ascending Sérgio Brant Rocha
View
-
Adult awards Orang-utan in the rain Thomas Endlein
View
-
Adult awards Bush cricket pose Frederic Reglain
View
-
Adult awards Dolphin seascape Todd Pusser
View
Search the online gallery
Enter a keyword to search for images from the 2005 competition
Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is co-owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide.
All intellectual property rights in the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition images are retained by the photographer. Any reproduction of the images without prior written consent will constitute an actionable infringement. For information regarding permission to use competition images please email us.