Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 Winners: Federico Veronesi’s Elephant Photo ‘The Aftermath’ Wins Top Prize – Check Full Winners List and Where to See All Winning Photos

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 Winners: A quiet moment in Namibia’s dry riverbed has captured the attention of the global wildlife photography community. Italian photographer Federico Veronesi has won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 title with The Aftermath, a black-and-white photograph showing a female elephant carrying a dead calf through the Huab River Valley. The image stood out among a record 65,403 entries submitted from 121 countries and territories for the competition organised by London’s Natural History Museum.

This year’s awards also marked a milestone in the competition’s 62-year history: both the adult and young overall winners received recognition for black-and-white photographs. While Veronesi’s image captures a powerful and difficult-to-interpret moment involving elephants, 14-year-old Oscar Whitfield won the young photographer’s top honour with Labour of Love, which shows a dung beetle pushing a ball of dung across the ground in Zimbabwe.

The winning photographs highlight the variety of wildlife encounters photographers can document, from the behaviour of large mammals to the often-overlooked work of insects. The Natural History Museum will display 100 selected images in London from October 16, 2026, offering visitors a closer look at the stories behind this year’s award-winning pictures.

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Wildlife Photographer 2026: How Federico Veronesi Captured the Award-Winning Elephant Photograph

Veronesi was following a group of elephants through Namibia’s Huab River Valley when he noticed unusual drag marks across the sand in a dry riverbed. He followed the trail until he caught up with the family group and saw a female elephant carrying a dead calf, with one of its legs held between her tusk and trunk. The encounter became the photograph titled The Aftermath.

The photograph offers a rare view of elephant behaviour around death. Researchers have documented elephants guarding deceased animals, touching and examining bones, making vocalisations and carrying dead individuals. However, scientists have different interpretations of these actions, including whether they reflect grief or an attempt to understand death. The photograph captures the behaviour but does not establish exactly what the elephant was feeling.