A photo of a wild cat hunting a flamingo won an award

An amazing image of a caracal hunting a flamingo in Tanzania has won first prize in the Nature TTL Photographer of the Year 2022 competition.

“The Cat and His Prize” by American photographer Dennis Stogsdill beat 8,000 entries from around the world.

“It’s nature at its rawest,” says Nature TTL founder Will Nichols.

“The caracal got wet chasing the flamingo in the water, but he won.

“The contrasting colors against the dark surroundings really make this image pop – a beautiful scene to behold, let alone gracefully capture on camera.”

The photo also won in the “Animal Behavior” category.

Here are the winning images from other categories with descriptions of the photographers.

Lying in the mud, this majestic African elephant walked towards our safari vehicle in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, Africa.

He collected dust in his barrel – and soon turned the barrel upwards and released a huge ball of dust.

My camera was set to continuous shutter and I was clicking like crazy – an exciting moment.

A unique phenomenon takes place every year in the Canadian Yukon.

Bears will freeze their fur and stay outside until the month of December, despite temperatures down to -30C.

This picture was taken by a camera trap set up along the river about two days before the snowstorm.

A snow leopard hunts for prey on the jagged peaks of the Ladakh mountain range in India.

Thick snow covers the ground, but the thick fur and fluffy paws of the big cat keep it warm.

I took this picture during my three-year SLR [digital single-lens reflex] Photo trap project in the Indian Himalayas.

A thunderstorm passes over a sunflower that, against all odds, has managed to survive in a landfill in the semi-arid Karoo region of South Africa.

In March 2021, the eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Geldingadolir, Iceland began.

I took this picture on September 17th as the lava flow was spectacular that day.

I managed to photograph this moth in the summer at dusk.

To monitor the flight, I used an LED [light-emitting diode] headlight and lit the moth with a flash.

I created the twilight using in-camera multiple exposure.

moth, Micropterix calthellacovered with golden balls of pollen from a creeping buttercup flower found at Mathers Mor, near Sidmouth, Devon.

The image is a compilation of focused shots.

This picture was taken during a trip to Mount Kosciuszko, the highest point in Australia.

It’s also one of the best places to photograph the Milky Way, thanks in part to the dark skies.

This shot is a mix of magical elements – the moonlight refracting to create a gorgeous rainbow, the beautiful northern lights just above and Gadafoss, a spectacular waterfall in Iceland.

All elements are real and happening simultaneously.

A pink whip separating a school of banner fish is captured against the backdrop of the setting sun late in the afternoon at the famous Tuna Factory dive site, located near Malé, the capital of the Maldives.

A male eastern gnatfish carries eggs in its mouth.

It will continue to hold the eggs for a month before hatching occurs.

During the day, this place on the outskirts of Kassel, Germany is crowded with people going about their daily business, but at night it belongs to the animals.

This old abandoned train station in Helensburgh, Australia is inhabited by a city of fireflies that provide beautiful lights on rainy days.

To take this photo, I had to travel to the location during a storm as the ephemeral waterfall was beginning to appear.

A day after this photo was taken, the tunnel flooded.

When a huge lion looks you straight in the eye, you immediately forget that you are sitting in a safe car.

You instinctively hunker down and slowly retreat inside the car so as not to provoke the predator.

Fortunately, he and his brothers were busy gobbling up the young buffalo they had hunted moments before.

I carefully observed this fox for a month in Graubünden, Switzerland, and noticed that the area was well used as a marking area.

The picture was taken with a wide-angle lens with a remote shutter release so as not to disturb the fox.

Malabar parrots are wonderful creatures.

They are also called blue-winged parrots.

They usually gather together and can be seen in huge numbers.

In the midst of many activities, I had the honor of capturing this bird’s eye view in Karnataka, India.

These two are fighting over a tree stump for which rice was fodder.

My local pond, near Poznań, Poland, is a great spot for panaraks.

At least four species nest on this pond, and they are quite tame because fishermen are often there.

The whole time the sun was setting, this little crested grebe was posing for me.

All photos provided The nature of TTL.