Life
Our favorite wildlife shots of the year feature an inquisitive hyena pup, a colorful sea slug, and a fruit bat being swabbed for science. By Chen Ly
Image of Spotted Hyenas. This spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) pup is a natural in front of the camera, while its mother and sibling keep a watchful eye in the background. This playful shot was taken by Wim van den Heever in Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya.
Image of Southern Stingray. As the sun rises off the coast of the Cayman Islands, a southern stingray (Dasyatis americana) prowls the sandy seabed in this striking split-level snap by photographer Alex Mustard.
Image of Sap-Sucking Slug by Mateusz Piesiak / naturepl.com. Mustard also captured this vibrantly fluorescent oddity.
Meet the incredible sap-sucking slug, Costasiella kuroshimae, as it creeps across green algae just off the coast of northern Indonesia. This amazing sea slug has two beady eyes close together on its face, and spotty green leaf-like appendages called cerata sprout from its body. But here’s something truly incredible – these sea slugs have the special ability to preserve the chloroplasts in the algae they feed on, which means they can perform photosynthesis.
A Eurasian brown bear
Andy Rouse/naturepl.com
Check out this amazing snapshot of a Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) captured in a quick action moment by Andy Rouse in the forested lands of Finland. The image shows the bear shaking itself dry after a quick dip in a pond. Did you know that these amazing creatures can weigh up to 480 kilograms and are commonly found across eastern Europe and Russia?
A spotted fritillary larva
Guy Edwardes/naturepl.com
Enjoy this colorful picture taken by Guy Edwardes in the grasslands of the Rhodope mountains in Bulgaria. The image features a spotted fritillary (Melitaea didyma) larva, which will eventually transform into a butterfly. Its wings – hints of which can already be seen along its back – will be bright orange with brown spots.
A white-winged snowfinch
Mateusz Piesiak / naturepl.com
A stunning white-winged snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis) boldly faces a snowstorm in the breathtaking Swiss Alps, as captured in this photograph by Mateusz Piesiak. These birds are notably robust and large, measuring up to 19 centimetres in height. Their distinctive orange-yellow bills change to black in the summer.
A fruit bat
Clément Kolopp/WCS
This curious fruit bat is undergoing a nose and throat swab as part of critical research in the Republic of the Congo, seeking to understand the potential for zoonotic diseases, such as Ebola, to transfer to humans. Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Congolese Foundation for Medical Research have collected blood and saliva samples from around 100 fruit bats.
