{"id":549940,"date":"2026-01-28T20:23:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T20:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/549940\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T20:23:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T20:23:34","slug":"capturing-ecology-photo-contest-2025-winners-show-the-wonders-of-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/549940\/","title":{"rendered":"Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 Winners Show the Wonders of Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

The British Ecological Society has announced the winners of its annual Capturing Ecology photography competition, showcasing the best images captured by international ecologists and photographers. Among the winning shots are an American crocodile staring down the lens, a flying frog, and a chimpanzee rescue mission. <\/p>\n

Zeke Rowe, a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, captured this year\u2019s overall winning photo. Rowe\u2019s photo shows an American crocodile looking straight at him, with piercing golden eyes, and, most interesting of all, seven horseflies sitting on the crocodile\u2019s scales, right between its eyes, feeding on its blood. It\u2019s an interesting juxtaposition that caught the judges\u2019 eyes. <\/p>\n

\"Close-upOverall Winner \u2014 \u2018Wouldn\u2019t Hurt a Fly\u2019 by Zeke Rowe; Coiba National Park, Panama | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a photographer for a couple of years but only gained the confidence to submit my photos to competitions recently, fearing my work wasn\u2019t good enough. Winning my first competition has shown me that sometimes all it takes is some belief, and I am proud of myself for doing so,\u201d Rowe says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI took this photo while on a break from research in Panama\u2019s Coiba National Park. This crocodile was lurking in a tidal marsh off the beach. I got as close and low as I dared, waiting for that direct eye contact.\u201d <\/p>\n

Category Winners <\/p>\n

Alongside Rowe\u2019s overall winning photo, the Capturing Ecology judges also selected winners across eight categories: Animals; Plants and Fungi; Interactions; Ecologists in Action; People and Nature; Nature, Food and Farming; Mobile Ecology; and Up Close. There is also an Ecologists\u2019 Choice Award, selected by ecologists at the British Ecological Society\u2019s 2025 Annual Meeting in Edinburgh. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe incredible images in this year\u2019s Capturing Ecology are a perfect demonstration of how photography can transport us around the world, allowing us to glimpse the everyday wonders and dramatic moments of ecology,\u201d says Professor Melanie Austen, President of the British Ecological Society. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe British Ecological Society is a truly global community, so it brings me great joy to see such diversity in this year\u2019s entries, from coral claiming abandoned bottles in the Philippines, to mudflats in British Columbia and then to the green sheen of intertidal seagrass meadows closer to my home in the Tamar estuary.\u201d <\/p>\n

All eight category winners plus the Ecologists\u2019 Choice Award are featured below. <\/p>\n

\"AAnimals Winner \u2014 \u2018Wallace\u2019s Flying Frog\u2019 by Jamal Kabir; Peninsular Malaysian lowland forests, near Kuala Lumpur | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"TwoEcologists in Action Winner \u2014 \u2018Ready for Everything\u2019 by Roberto Garc\u00eda-Roa; Cameroon | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"AInteractions Winner \u2014 \u2018Lioness One Eye Behind Birds\u2019 by Willem Kruger; Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"AerialNature, Food and Farming Winner \u2014 \u2018Jute Processing\u2019 by Joy Saha; Natore, Bangladesh | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025
\n \"AMobile Ecology Winner \u2014 \u2018Amanita Nothofagi\u2019 by Hui Syn Chan; New Zealand | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"ColorfulPeople and Nature Winner \u2014 \u2018Unusual Backdrop\u2019 by Guido Villani; Philippines | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"APlants and Fungi Winner \u2014 \u2018Miniature Encounter\u2019 by Francisco Gamboa; Altos de Cantillana Natural Park, Chile | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"AUp Close Winner \u2014 \u2018Emerging Life\u2019 by Sritam Kumar Sethy; Balasore, Odisha, India | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"Close-upEcologists\u2019 Choice Winner \u2014 \u2018The False Eye\u2019 by Sritam Kumar Sethy; Balasore, Odisha, India | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 Highly Commended Images <\/p>\n

Alongside the category winners above, the competition\u2019s judges also selected 17 \u201cHighly commended\u201d photos, all of which are featured below. <\/p>\n

\"AAnimals \u2014 \u2018Path of the Panther\u2019 by Brandon Guell | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025
\n \"TwoAnimals \u2014 \u2018Prairie Chicken Jump-Off\u2019 by Peter Hudson | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"AAnimals \u2014 \u2018On the Hunt\u2019 by Guillaume Lespagnol | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"AAnimals \u2014 \u2018Silence in Ambush\u2019 by Jamal Kabir | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"AerialNature, Food and Farming \u2014 \u2018Green Sheen\u2019 by Oliver Thomas | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"AEcologists in Action \u2014 \u2018A Fistful of Frogs\u2019 by Ryan Wagner | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"AInteractions \u2014 \u2018Jackal Close Catch Eye\u2019 by Ryan Wagner | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"AInteractions \u2014 \u2018Hanging in the Balance\u2019 by Stewart Finlayson | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025
\n \"PeopleNature, Food and Farming \u2014 \u2018Catch of the Day\u2019 by Joy Saha | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"BrightPlants and Fungi \u2014 \u2018Woodland Gems\u2019 by Ben James | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"APeople and Nature \u2014 \u2018Painted Rattle\u2019 by Ryan Wagner | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"Close-upPlants and Fungi \u2014 \u2018Not a Red Flag\u2019 by Roberto Garc\u00eda-Roa | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"ExtremePlants and Fungi \u2014 \u2018Glass Vases\u2019 by Willow Bloomfield | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"ExtremeUp Close \u2014 \u2018Dune\u2019 by Ben James | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"AEcologists in Action \u2014 \u2018Bighorn Swab and Go\u2019 by Peter Hudson | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025
\n \"AnPeople and Nature \u2014 \u2018Fading Giants\u2019 by Ashane Marasinghe | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 \"ThreeEcologists in Action \u2014 \u2018Intertidal Education\u2019 by Liam Brennan | British Ecological Society, Capturing Ecology Photo Contest 2025 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe winners and highly commended entries are all thoroughly deserving, capturing not just iconic, but often fleeting moments in nature. Collectively, the images draw attention to the fragile state of nature and reinforce the need for a stronger connection with the animals with whom we share our planet,\u201d adds competition judge, Harriet McAra, Communications and Events Manager at Zoological Society of London (ZSL). <\/p>\n

Image credits:<\/strong> British Ecological Society. All photographers are credited in the individual image captions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The British Ecological Society has announced the winners of its annual Capturing Ecology photography competition, showcasing the best…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":549941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[3425,648,1032,241492,4315,4788,16289,1033,945,171,1759,91018,159,67,132,68,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-549940","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-britishecologicalsociety","12":"tag-competition","13":"tag-conservation","14":"tag-contest","15":"tag-design","16":"tag-ecology","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-nature","19":"tag-photocontest","20":"tag-science","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115974597504052317","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}