In pictures: finalists for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015

September 02, 2015 - 15:43 BST hellomagazine.com

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Wrestling Komodo dragons, a gorilla looking on as her companion is being medically treated, snow-pounding rabbits are among the scenes captured on camera by this year's finalists for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015. The exhibition opens on 16 October at the Natural History Museum in London.

Komodo Judo by Andrey Gudkov
RUSSIA
Finalist, Amphibians & Reptiles
Two large male Komodo dragons hissing angrily at each other in Indonesia’s Komodo national park. Komodo dragons can grow up to 8ft tall
Photograph: Andrey Gudkov

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Gorilla care by Marcus Westberg
SWEDEN
Finalist, Photojournalism award: single image
Ndeze, a nine-year-old orphan mountain gorilla, watches with concern as veterinarians check the health of her female companion, 12-year-old Maisha, in the Senkwekwe centre at Virunga national park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Photograph: Marcus Westberg

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The shark surfer by Thomas P Peschak
GERMANY/SOUTH AFRICA
Finalist, Photojournalism award: single image
Many sharks are found at Aliwal Shoal near Durban, South Africa, making it the perfect environment to test a prototype surfboard with an electromagnetic shark deterrent
Photograph: Thomas P Peschak

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Jagged peace by Floris van Breugel
USA
Finalist, Land
A small bird (Gaucho Serrano) contemplates the enormity of Fitz Roy, in Patagonia, in Argentina’s Los Glaciares national park that boasts the largest ice mantle outside Antarctica
Photograph: Floris van Breugel

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Great egret awakening by Zsolt Kudich
HUNGARY
Finalist, Birds
When the River Danube flooded into Hungary’s Gemenc forest, more than a thousand great egrets flocked to the lake to feed on the stranded amphibians, fish and invertebrates
Photograph: Zsolt Kudich/Zsolt Kudich

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To drink or not by Carlos Perez Naval
SPAIN
Finalist, 10 Years and Under
A California ground squirrel comes face-to-face with a gull on the beach at Morro Bay in California
Photograph: Carlos Perez Naval

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Snow hare by Rosamund Macfarlane
UK
Finalist, Mammals
A hare gets its pelt coated in snow in the Scottish Cairngorms, Scotland
Photograph: Rosamund Macfarlane

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Stork art by Francisco Mingorance
SPAIN
Finalist, Urban Wildlife
White storks nesting on a sculpture outside the Vostell-Malpartida Museum near Cáceres in Spain
Photograph: Francisco Mingorance

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It came from the deep by Fabien Michenet
FRANCE
Finalist, Underwater
A juvenile octopus, measuring about 2cm across, swims in the deep water off the coast of Tahiti, French Polynesia. Its transparent body reveals internal organs and chromatophores (colourchanging cells) on its tentacles
Photograph: Fabien Michenet/fmichenet@yahoo.

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Natural frame by Morkel Erasmus
SOUTH AFRICA
Finalist, Black & White
Elephants, zebras and giraffes captured at a waterhole in Namibia’s Etosha national park
Photograph: Morkel Erasmus