Photo Of A Fox Startling A Marmot Wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019

photo credit: Wildlife Photographer of the Year / Facebook

The Winner Of Photography Contest

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 competition winner goes to Yongqing Bao of China with his breath-taking photo of marmot being scared by a fox. 

“A powerful frame of both humour and horror, it captures the drama and intensity of nature,” the competition says of the shot.

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This photo was given the name “The Moment” because it captures the moment an unsuspecting marmot screamed in horror as a hungry Tibetan fox ran just inches past it. Between the marmot’s mouth being wide open and the fox looking at it like a snack, the image is priceless.

The Photo Holds You Transfixed

According to contest officials not only is this a great shot of wildlife but a very rare one as well. Both animals are hardly ever filmed due to being so isolated in the Himalayan mountains.

“Images from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are rare enough, but to have captured such a powerful interaction between a Tibetan fox and a marmot – two species key to the ecology of this high-grassland region – is extraordinary.” Roz Kidman Cox continued saying.

Another contest was held for the younger photographers and this image below showing a colorful squid was captured by Cruz Erdmann who won that competition. The photo was taken off the coast of North Sulawesi, Indonesia during a night dive.

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Thousands Of Photos Were Submitted

London’s Natural History Museum, where the contest was held had 48,000 photo entries submitted to the competition from over 100 different countries around the world.

Yongqing, the photographer, says the photo was captured during a time when the fox was hunting to feed her three cubs. It had been hunting the marmot since daylight and was laying down in the grass pretending to be asleep when the marmot came out of its den.

The story goes on to tell how the fox took off running at the marmot and barely missed catching it the moment the picture was captured. However, in the end, the fox caught the marmot and her cubs had a warm dinner that evening.

“Photographically, it is quite simply the perfect moment,” says Roz Kidman Cox, chair of the judging panel. “The expressive intensity of the postures holds you transfixed, and the thread of energy between the raised paws seems to hold the protagonists in perfect balance.”

Watch the full Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards 2019 in the video below!