Karine Aigner (USA) documents the annual hunting competitions in Texas, USA.
Contestants line up to have their bobcats weighed in the March 2022 West Texas Big Bobcat Contest, the highest-paying predator-hunting contest in the USA. There are a number of prizes on offer, one of which is for the heaviest bobcat. In 2022 the winner of that category took home US$35,530.
To qualify a bobcat for prizes, teams must also shoot five coyotes or five grey foxes and present these at their bobcat weigh‑in. For Melissa Groo, Wildlife Photographer and Competition Judge, ‘the power of this photo lies in the contrast between the casual stance of these hunters waiting in line to get their quarry weighed and the grace and beauty and wasted life of the cats they hold like trash. Devastating!’
USA
Karine is an award-winning photojournalist who captures visual stories that explore the relationships between humans and the animal world. Her work has been featured in National Geographic Magazine, Audubon, The New York Times, Nature Conservancy Magazine, The Guardian, WWF and BBC Wildlife. In 2022, Karine became the fifth woman in 58 years to ever win the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Grand Title.
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