Gorilla hugging man who saved his life picture wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year award

A tender hug between a lowland gorilla and the man who 

saved her life has been crowned the winner of the Wildlife 

Photographer of the Year People’s Choice award.

Photographer Jo-Anne McArthur took the photo in Cameroon, as the rescued gorilla – 

named Pikin – was being moved between animal sanctuaries.

Pikin had been captured by poachers to be sold for bushmeat but luckily, charity group 

Ape Action Africa stepped in at the last minute. Primate poaching, which is rife in 

Cameroon, sees hunters slaughter wild animals in order to sell their meat both in their 

country of origin and abroad. Baby apes are often left orphaned after their mothers are 

killed and either die in the wild or are sold on as pets. 

Pikin was being moved to a new 

enclosure within a safe forest sanctuary but woke up during her transfer when her 

sedation wore off. 

Luckily, she woke up in the arms of her caretaker, Appolinaire 

Ndohoudou, a man she shared a particular bond with.

Like Pikin, Appolinaire was forced from his home, having fled Chad because of a civil 

war. 

As he rebuilt his life in Cameroon, his work in protecting wild animals revived his 

appreciation for the natural world. Jo-Anne captured the moment the two travelled 

together 

– which became the winning photo chosen by the public in the competition run by the 

Natural History Museum. It was chosen from a shortlist of 24, selected by staff at the 

museum from almost 50,000 entries. The picture will now be showcased in the Wildlife 

Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Museum until it closes on May 28.

The finalists

Luciano Candisani had to climb the cecropia tree, in the protected Atlantic rainforest of 

southern Bahia, Brazil, to take an eye-level shot of this three-toed sloth. Sloths like to feed 

on the leaves of these trees and so they are often seen high up in the canopy.

Every year from July to late October southern humpback whales migrate north from their 

Antarctic feeding grounds to give birth in the warm sheltered waters off Tonga. Ray 

encountered this humpback mother and calf peacefully floating in the plankton-filled 

water 

around the island group of Vava’u, Tonga. After Ray gently approached them, the giants 

swam a bit closer to have alook at him and he captured this shot as they turned around.

Lakshitha was on safari in MaasaiMara National Reserve, Kenya, when he spotted a lilac-

breasted roller riding a zebra. Normally they prefer to 

perch high up in the foliage, but this roller spent an hour or more riding around and 

enjoying the occasional insect meal. Lakshitha waited for the 

surrounding zebras to form the perfect background before taking this tight crop.

When polar bear mothers and cubs emerge from their dens in the early spring, the cubs 

stay close to their mothers for warmth and protection. Once the cubs are strong and 

confident enough, they make the trek to the sea ice with their mother so that she can 

resume hunting for seals. Debra waited six days near the den of this family, in Wapusk 

National Park, Manitoba, Canada, before they finally emerged. She risked frostbite in 

freezing conditions to capture the shot.