Wildlife Photographer of the Year: 2016 Winners | CNN

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Wildlife Photographer of the Year: 2016 Winners

Updated 5:54 AM EDT, Wed October 19, 2016
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Category: Grand Prize <br />An endangered young male Bornean Orangutan climbs over 30 meters up in the rain forest of Gunung Palung National Park in Indonesian Borneo. The park is one of the few protected orangutan environments in Borneo.
Entwined lives by Tim Laman, US —
Category: Grand Prize
An endangered young male Bornean Orangutan climbs over 30 meters up in the rain forest of Gunung Palung National Park in Indonesian Borneo. The park is one of the few protected orangutan environments in Borneo.
Tim Laman/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Category: Urban<br />At night, in a suburb of Mumbai bordering Sanjay Gandhi National Park, leopards slip ghost-like through the maze of alleys, looking for food. Especially stray dogs. The big cats are largely accepted as a part of life and culture in the region, and even revered in traditional paintings displayed on the walls of local homes.
The alley cat by Nayan Khanolkar, India —
Category: Urban
At night, in a suburb of Mumbai bordering Sanjay Gandhi National Park, leopards slip ghost-like through the maze of alleys, looking for food. Especially stray dogs. The big cats are largely accepted as a part of life and culture in the region, and even revered in traditional paintings displayed on the walls of local homes.
Nayan Khanolkar/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Category: Birds<br />Indian rose-ringed parakeets attack a Bengal monitor lizard that had invaded their nest, high in a tree in India's Keoladeo National Park. After two days and repeated attacks, the parakeets eventually gave up and left to find another home.<br />
Eviction attempt by Ganesh H Shankar , India —
Category: Birds
Indian rose-ringed parakeets attack a Bengal monitor lizard that had invaded their nest, high in a tree in India's Keoladeo National Park. After two days and repeated attacks, the parakeets eventually gave up and left to find another home.
Ganesh H. Shankar/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Category: Grand Prize (Young Wildlife  Photographer)<br />A crow perching in a tree is a common scene in a London park, but when set against the blue light of dusk and a full moon it felt 'almost supernatural, like something out of a fairy tale,' says Gideon.<br /><br />
The moon and the crow by Gideon Knight, UK —
Category: Grand Prize (Young Wildlife Photographer)
A crow perching in a tree is a common scene in a London park, but when set against the blue light of dusk and a full moon it felt 'almost supernatural, like something out of a fairy tale,' says Gideon.

Gideon Knight/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Category: Photojournalist Award for a single image<br />Paul Hilton captured this scene of some 4,000 defrosting pangolins from one of the largest seizures on record of the heavily trafficked animals. The scaly mammals are prized in China and Vietnam for their exotic meat and for their scales used in traditional medicine. Four of the eight existing species are endangered as a result of the trade.
The pangolin pit by Paul Hilton, UK/Australia —
Category: Photojournalist Award for a single image
Paul Hilton captured this scene of some 4,000 defrosting pangolins from one of the largest seizures on record of the heavily trafficked animals. The scaly mammals are prized in China and Vietnam for their exotic meat and for their scales used in traditional medicine. Four of the eight existing species are endangered as a result of the trade.
Paul Hilton/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Category: Impressions<br />A young sea lion swimming in the Gulf of California grabs a starfish, which it then offered to photographer Luis Javier Sandoval. Sandoval says, 'I love the way sea lions interact with divers and how smart they are.'
Star player by Luis Javier Sandoval, Mexico —
Category: Impressions
A young sea lion swimming in the Gulf of California grabs a starfish, which it then offered to photographer Luis Javier Sandoval. Sandoval says, 'I love the way sea lions interact with divers and how smart they are.'
Luis Javier Sandoval/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Category: Details<br />The pristine white sand of Brazil's Lençóis Maranhenses National Park offers a blank canvas to natural processes of rain, bacteria, streams, and evaporation that leave behind elegant patterns in the dunes, which can tower to 40 meters (130 feet) high.
The sand canvas by Rudi Sebastian, Germany —
Category: Details
The pristine white sand of Brazil's Lençóis Maranhenses National Park offers a blank canvas to natural processes of rain, bacteria, streams, and evaporation that leave behind elegant patterns in the dunes, which can tower to 40 meters (130 feet) high.
Rudi Sebastian/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Category: Plants and Fungi<br />With every gust of wind, showers of pollen are released from a hazel tree and illuminated by the winter sun near photographer Valter Binotto's home in northern Italy.
Wind composition by Valter Binotto, Italy —
Category: Plants and Fungi
With every gust of wind, showers of pollen are released from a hazel tree and illuminated by the winter sun near photographer Valter Binotto's home in northern Italy.
Valter Binotto/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Category: Underwater<br />Thousands of two‑spot red snapper fish gather to spawn around Palau in the western Pacific Ocean for several days each month in sync with the full moon of the lunar cycle.
Snapper party by Tony Wu, US —
Category: Underwater
Thousands of two‑spot red snapper fish gather to spawn around Palau in the western Pacific Ocean for several days each month in sync with the full moon of the lunar cycle.
Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Category: Black and White<br />A solitary Eurasian pygmy owl was photographed by Mats Andersson after he discovered the owl's mate lying dead on the forest floor. "The owl's resting posture reflected my sadness for its lost companion," says Andersson. These birds of prey are known to form pair bonds in autumn that last through spring, and sometimes for more than one breeding season.
Requiem for an owl by Mats Andersson, Sweden —
Category: Black and White
A solitary Eurasian pygmy owl was photographed by Mats Andersson after he discovered the owl's mate lying dead on the forest floor. "The owl's resting posture reflected my sadness for its lost companion," says Andersson. These birds of prey are known to form pair bonds in autumn that last through spring, and sometimes for more than one breeding season.
MATS ANDERSSON/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

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