
The photo is on display at London’s Natural History Museum.
Over the holidays, the nominees were revealed for the 2022 Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award. This award acknowledges the most skilled wildlife photographers in the world, those who can snap pictures of wild animals in their natural habitats and states of being. This year’s contest featured some beautiful photos of red foxes, golden snub-nosed monkeys, and polar bear cubs, but this week, the winning photo was selected.
With a majority of the 60,466 votes cast for 25 top-running entrants, the winner of the award is German photographer Sascha Fonseca. Fonseca obtained an incredible photo of a snow leopard atop the mountains of Ladakh in northern India during sunset. Not only is the photo itself beautiful, but it was an exceedingly difficult subject to find, as there are only around 6,500 snow leopards alive in the world today.
“Photography can connect people to wildlife and encourage them to appreciate the beauty of the unseen natural world,” Fonseca said in a statement. “I believe that a greater understanding of wildlife leads to deeper caring which hopefully results in active support and greater public interest for conservation.”
A spectacular image of a snow leopard gazing out across mountains in India has been voted the winner of this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award. https://t.co/cPyQR0J8a1
— CNN (@CNN) February 9, 2023
“A result of dedication and perseverance, Sascha’s remarkable image captures the breathtaking beauty of our planet and reminds us of our shared responsibility to protect it,” said Douglas Gurr, director of London’s Natural History Museum. The photo is currently on display at this museum, and will be until July 2.