Denis-Huot / African elephant (Loxodonta africana) male covered with mud at a water hole, Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. August.

John Waters / Barn Owl (Tyto alba) hunting/hovering, Somerset, UK, trained bird.

Steven Kazlowski / Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) sow with two juveniles walk along the ice edge during autumn freeze up, Beaufort Sea, off Arctic coast, Alaska

Markus Varesvuo / Red-crowned Cranes (Grus japonensis) displaying and calling in snow, Hokkaido, Japan, February

Pascal Kobeh / Three Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) close to the surface against the light, Costa Rica. Pacific ocean.

Mark MacEwen / Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) sleeping at hot spring in Jigokudani, Yaenkoen, Nagano, Japan, February.

Andy Rouse / Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) 11 month cubs play fighting, Ranthambhore National Park, India.

Alex Mustard / Amphipod (Amphipoda) living inside sea squirt (Rhopalaea sp.) Anilao, Batangas, Luzon, Philippines. Verde Island Passages, Tropical West Pacific Ocean.

Ross Hoddinott / Common poppy (Papaver rhoeas) bud, Polly / Porth Joke, Pentire, Newquay, Cornwall, UK, July.

Michael Durham / Grey wolf (Canis lupus) head portrait, captive from Washington Range, USA

Erlend Haarberg / Stoat (Mustela erminea) in white winter coat, running. Vauldalen, Sor-Trondelag, Norway, May.

Michael Durham / Female Spotted wing fruit fly (Drosophila suzukii) in flight over a strawberry, Oregon, USA, March.

Enrique Lopez-Tapia / Light streaming through window on sand covered house in Kolmanskop Ghost Town, an old diamond-mining town where shifting sand dunes have encroached abandoned houses, Namib Desert Namibia, October 2013...

Enrique Lopez-Tapia / Burchell's zebras (Equus quagga burchellii) close ups of the manes, Etosha NP, Namibia.

Lou Coetzer / Two Burchell's / Plains zebra (Equus quagga / burchelli) stallions on hind legs fighting, Etosha National Park, Namibia, July.

Lou Coetzer / Bull African elephant (Loxodonta africana) mud bathing, Chobe River, Botswana, November, Vulnerable species.

David Tipling / Puffin (Fratercula arctica) greeting each other by billing, Shetland Scotland, June.

Jeff Vanuga / American Bison (Bison bison) in snow, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, January.

Kirkendall-Spring / Black and white photograph of Mount Shuksan in the winter as seen from Austin Pass, Heather Meadows Recreation Area, Washington, USA.

Mark Taylor / Brown Duckling cheeping, against white background

Radomir Jakubowski / Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) close up portrait of young, Bernese Alps, Switzerland, August.

Loic Poidevin / Black Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina) grooming, Samburu National Reserve, Kenya.

Andy Rouse / Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) charging through river chasing salmon, Alaska, USA. Crop of 01500299.

Radomir Jakubowski / Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) close up of antlers, Vosges Mountains, France, July.

Chris & Monique Fallows / Blue shark (Prionace glauca), rear view with Pilot fish (Naucrates ductor) Cape Point, South Africa

Will Burrard-Lucas / Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) sensing with forked tongue, Komodo National Park, Komodo Island, Indonesia.

Jack Dykinga / Twisted branch in pool in stone canyon, Coyote Buttes, Arizona, USA, April 1992.

Will Burrard-Lucas / African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) investigating remote camera. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia.

MD Kern / Palo Alto JR Museum / European honey bee (Apis mellifera) flapping wings to control hive temperature, captive.

Michael D. Kern / Puff Adder (Bitis arietans) captive occurs in Tanzania.

Paul Harcourt Davies / Lady's slipper (Cypripedium calceolus) in flower, Camosciara Mounts, near Pescasseroli, Abruzzo, Italy, June.

Solvin Zankl / King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) colony, Antarctica

Solvin Zankl / Hydroids (Bougainvillia britannica) North Sea, Germany

Michel Roggo / Kamchatcka brown bear (Ursus arctos beringianus) with face underwater whilst fishing for Sockeye salmon in the Ozernaya River, Kuril Lake, South Kamtchatka Sanctuary, Russia, August. Taken for the Fre...

Frederique Olivier / Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) huddle in bad weather, Antarctica, May.

Andy Rouse / Short Eared Owl (Asio flammeus) taking off, blurred motion photograph, UK, January. Captive

Andy Rouse / Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) catching trout Rothiemurchus, Scotland, UK, July.

Anup Shah / Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) baby aged 2-4 weeks holding on to an adult's tail while it is being groomed. Bako National Park, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia.

Pal Hermansen / Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) one of the first domesticated wheat species.

Floris van Breugel / Ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa) in winter snow, near Sisters, Oregon, USA. December 2009.

Floris van Breugel / Black and white photograph of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) tail slapping at surface, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, USA, August 2014.

Roy Mangersnes / Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) searching for food in shallow water, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway, July.

Will Burrard-Lucas / Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) female charging in water. This female had a newborn calf on the riverbank, South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. January.

Tony Heald / elephant (Loxodonta africana) dusting using trunk. Etosha National Park, Namibia.

Orsolya Haarberg / Kirkefjorden and surrounding mountains, viewed from Reinebringen. Hammarskaftet can be seen in foreground. Moskenes municipality, Lofoten, Nordland, Norway. October 2012

Andy Rouse / Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) male 'Romeo T6' cooling off in waterhole during hot summer. Ranthambore National Park, India.

Bert Willaert / Tadpoles of the Common toad (Bufo bufo) swimming seen from below, Belgium, June.

Fiona Rogers / Eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurtheii) juvenile male 'Siri' aged 4 years portrit. Gombe National Park, Tanzania.

Carol Walker / Quarter horses running in snow at ranch, Shell, Wyoming, USA, February.

John Abbott / Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) worker in flight with pollen sacs, Camp Maxey National Guard Facility, Paris, Lamar County, Texas, USA.

Jordi Chias / Blue shark (Prionace glauca) close up, Azores, Portugal. Finalist in Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards (WPOY) Competition 2014

Yukihiro Fukuda / Feral domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) standing on hind legs on coast, Okunojima Island, also known as Rabbit Island, Hiroshima, Japan.

Ernie Janes / Greylag geese (Anser anser). Cley, Norfolk, UK, March. Digital composite.

Ross Hoddinott / Stone on rock pattern, Kilve beach, Somerset, UK. January 2014.

Ross Hoddinott / Maple leaves backlit on lightbox, Broxwater, Cornwall, UK. November 2013.

Mark Taylor / Red toy poodle looking up at camera an sticking out tongue.

Ben Cranke / European Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) in flight at sunset Norway, May.

Matthew Maran / Common tern (Sterna hirundo) in flight over water, Hampstead Heath, London, UK, August.

Juan Carlos Munoz / Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) running through plants, captive occurs in South East Asia.

Pascal Kobeh / Roundhead parrotfish (Scarus viridifucatus) eye, coast of Dhofar and Hallaniyat islands, Oman. Arabian Sea.

Pascal Kobeh / Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) approaching with curiosity, Dolphin Reef, Eilat, Israel. Red Sea.

Denis-Huot / Male Lion (Panthera leo) shaking off water in the rain, Masai-Mara game reserve, Kenya.

Markus Varesvuo / Red-crowned Crane (Grus japonensis) preening in snow,Hokkaido, Japan, February

Markus Varesvuo / White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) in flight with mountains in background, Hokkaido, Japan, February

Markus Varesvuo / Great White Egret (Egretta alba) with water splashing from beak, Hungary January

Staffan Widstrand / European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) hand reared orphan held in human hands, Jarfalla, Sweden. August. Model released.

Nick Garbutt / Giant Water Lily (Victoria amazonica) flower in a lagoon at Porto Jofre, off the Cuiaba River, northern Pantanal, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, South America.

Pal Hermansen / Aerial view of river delta, South West Iceland, June 2014. Finalist in the Art of Nature Category of the Big Picture Competition 2015.

Pete Oxford / Bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) in Beqa (Benga) Lagoon, a reserve where sharks are fed as part of a commercial diving operation. Viti Levu, Fiji, South Pacific.

Franco Banfi / Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) with parasitic copepod (Ommatokoita elongata), under ice, Lancaster Sound, Nunavut, northern Baffin Island, Canada, Arctic.

Kim Taylor / European hornet (Vespa crabro) worker in flight, Surrey, England, August.

Alex Hyde / Longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae) Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo.

Alex Hyde / Cup fungus (Cookeina sp) Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo.

Alex Hyde / Various species of Cicada (Cicadoidea) from Sabah, Borneo. Digital composite.

Constantinos Petrinos / Juvenile Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) with sea anemone (Heteractis magnifica). Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Floris van Breugel / Ice cave with melt water running through, Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska, USA, August 2014.

Denis-Huot / Male black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) silhouetted against clouds, Masai-Mara Game Reserve, Kenya. March.

Ole Jorgen Liodden / Ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea) behind Polar bear (Ursus maritimus), Svalbard, Norway, July.

Ole Jorgen Liodden / Arctic tern (Sterna Paradisaea) flying, Svalbard, Norway, July.

Andy Rouse / Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) in waves, Saunders Island, Falkland Islands.

Erlend Haarberg / Mountain hare (Lepus timidus) head portrait. Vauldalen, Sor-Trondelag, Norway, April.

Bence Mate / Greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) and House sparrows (Passer domesticus) blurred long exposure photograph, Hungary, February.

Radomir Jakubowski / Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) male on mountainside at sunrise, Bernese Alps, Switzerland, July. Received honourable mention in the Big Picture Competition awards 2014. Nominated in the Melvita Nature Image...

Floris van Breugel / Zebra Slot Canyon, Escalante National Monument, Utah, USA, November 2010.

Alex Mustard / Reticulate stargazer (Uranoscopus sp.) emerging from the sand. Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Lembeh Strait, Molucca Sea.

Alex Mustard / Large female Southern stingray (Hypanus americanus) in shallow water, under storm clouds, Stingray City, Grand Cayman. Stingray City is feeding site for stingrays and bait was used on this shoot. Caym...

Neil Aldridge / Pair of Blesbok (Damaliscus pygargus) galloping across the open flood plains of the Bushman's River, Kariega Game Reserve, South Africa. Overall winner of the GDT Competition 2014.

Radomir Jakubowski / Ladys slipper orchid (Cypripedium calceolus), Bavaria, Germany, May. 2nd Prize in the Melvita Nature Images Awards competition 2014.

Sandra Bartocha / Silver birch (Betula pendula) with Heather (Calluna vulgaris) in full bloom, Reicherskreuzer Heide, Nature Reserve Schlaubetal, Germany, August.

Jordi Chias / Juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas) reflected in the surface of the window with Snell's window affect, Fakarava atoll inside lagoon at sunset, Tuamotu archipelago, French Polynesia; Pacific Ocean