Italian wildlife photographer Federico Veronesi won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 grand title with The Aftermath,
a black-and-white photograph of a female elephant carrying her stillborn calf in Namibia. The competition, run by the London Natural History Museum, drew a record 65,403 entries from 121 countries and territories.
Federico Veronesi Captures The Aftermath in Namibia
While tracking elephants across the dry riverbeds of the Huab River Valley in Namibia, Italian photographer Federico Veronesi noticed an unusual trail of drag marks in the sand. Following the tracks, he encountered a family group moving through the desert. One female walked carrying a dead calf wedged firmly between her tusk and trunk, its limp body dangling in the hot air.
Veronesi witnessed the heartbreaking scene in September 2025. He followed the herd for several hours as the grieving mother carried her deceased offspring over rocky terrain, occasionally setting the small body down just to feed on a bush before scooping it back up.
The resulting monochrome image, titled ‘The Aftermath’, secured both the Behaviour: Mammals category and the grand title in the 62nd annual competition. For the first time in the competition’s 62-year history, both the adult and young grand title winners captured their winning shots in black and white.
Emotionally it’s a gut punch, heartbreakingly poignant. Intellectually it’s proof that animals have cognition. This photograph says it all!
Kathy Moran, Chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Jury
Understanding Elephant Grief and Complex Emotional Behaviour
Both Asian and African elephants display complex reactions to death, including guarding corpses, inspecting bones, producing distinct vocalisations, and carrying deceased young. Researchers note that such actions suggest an elephant’s journey toward understanding loss, though scientists often debate whether these instances constitute mourning rituals.
When Veronesi consulted local researchers about the mother’s unusual endurance, he learned that she had lost her own calf a few years earlier. Since then, local monitoring teams had observed her picking up other stillborn calves in the area. Field specialists working with desert elephant projects note that while healthy newborns weigh between 100 and 120 kilograms, stillborn calves found in the region typically weigh roughly 60 to 65 kilograms.
Biologists suggest the prolonged carrying behavior serves as a form of emotional processing, allowing the mother to work through the trauma of loss or attempt to reconnect with her own departed young. Researchers also point to environmental pressures and chronic stress—including human-wildlife conflict that can induce post-traumatic stress disorder in elephants—as factors influencing herd behaviour across Namibia’s fragile landscapes.
Oscar Whitfield Takes Young Wildlife Photographer Honors
The youth competition crowned 14-year-old British photographer Oscar Whitfield, who grew up visiting Zimbabwe, as the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026. His winning image, titled ‘Labour of Love’, depicts a dung beetle pushing its heavy cargo through the sun-baked dust of Zambezi National Park in Hwange District.
Whitfield captured the intricate close-up by lying flat on the ground as the insect moved past. Competition judges praised the technical difficulty of photographing a constantly moving, tiny subject at ground level.
The composition reveals an entire story and by doing so the photograph quietly reveals how life cycles depend on what we often overlook or dismiss.
Jasper Doest, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Jury Member
Exhibition Details and International Tour Dates
Organized and produced by the Natural History Museum in London, the annual contest selected winners across roughly twenty categories, ranging from underwater environments to urban wildlife and photojournalism.
The complete collection of 100 winning photographs will debut in a public exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London starting Friday, October 16, 2026. Adult tickets for the London exhibition start at £17.00, with concessions priced at £13.60 and child tickets at £8.50, excluding optional gift aid. The London display remains open until July 11, 2027, before embarking on national and international stops.
Canadian audiences can view the exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto from November 7, 2026, through February 28, 2027, or at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria from February 12 to April 18, 2027.
