The National Geographic has revealed on October 30, 2008 the Best Wild Animal Photos of 2008. The winning photographs in categories such as Underwater World and Animal Behavior are simply stunning.
The first image, "Deadlock," is the winner of the Animal Behavior category and was captured at night in a Belize rainforest by U.K. photographer David Maitland. It shows a deadlock in a fight between a rare Morelet’s tree frog and a cat-eyed snake.
The second picture of a black colobus monkey having its fur singed in preparation for sale at an illegal bush-meat market in Gabon, Africa is beautiful but extremely sad. It has won the One Earth Award category.
U.K. photographer David Maitland explains, "They singe the fur off, then sell the animals naked but intact."
The third image shows a snow leopard in India’s Hemis National Park by U.S. photographer Steve Winter.
A black-crested macaque is featured in the fourth image by Stefano Unterthiner in Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.
Photographer Antoni Kasprzak catches a fight between two white-tailed eagles in Poland in the fifth image. A juvenile and an adult eagle are caught fighting over a carcass.
The sixth image features a southern right whale by Brian Skerry off New Zealand’s Auckland Islands.
Finally, the seventh image shows hunting chimpanzees by French photographer Cyril Ruoso.
Nature Photobsession
National Geographic Best Wild Animal Photos of 2008
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