No Access: Badger’s graffiti glance wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award

6 February 2025

British photographer Ian Wood’s perfectly timed capture of an ambling Eurasian badger glancing up at some rather familiar graffiti in St Leonards-on-Sea, England, has won the tenth edition of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award 2024.

No Access by Ian Wood (UK) Winner An ambling Eurasian badger, illuminated by a streetlight, appears to glance up at badger graffiti on a quiet road in England, UK. Residents of St Leonards-on-Sea had been leaving food scraps on the pavement for foxes, but Ian noticed that badgers from a nearby sett were also coming to forage. After seeing a badger walking along the pavement by this wall late one night, he decided to photograph it. He set up a small hide on the edge of the road to take this picture.

The 25 nominated images for this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award received a record number of votes with over 76,000 wildlife photography and nature fans from around the world voting for their favourite image.

Director of the Natural History Museum, Dr Douglas Gurr described the image as 'flawlessly timed'.

"It offers a unique glimpse of nature’s interaction with the human world, underscoring the importance of understanding urban wildlife," he said.

"His exceptional photograph serves as a powerful reminder that local nature and wildlife, often just outside our homes, can inspire and captivate us.”

After residents of St Leonards-on-Sea, England, had been leaving food scraps on the pavement for foxes, Ian noticed that badgers from a nearby sett were also coming to forage.

Having seen a badger walking along the pavement by this wall late one night, he decided to photograph it and set up a small hide on the edge of the road to take his picture. Only the light from a lamppost illuminated the creature as it ambled along.

"The outpouring of badger love since my photo was nominated for the People’s Choice Award has been beautifully overwhelming," Wood said.

"However, there is a darker side to this image. I live in rural Dorset where I’m on a re-wilding mission to enhance habitats for a huge array of wildlife. The badger cull – which is still ongoing – has decimated their numbers and I fear that unless the cull is stopped, we’ll only see badgers in urban settings in several parts of England.

My hope is for this image to raise awareness of the damaging effect of the badger cull and help push for change.”

Earth and Sky by Francisco Negroni (Chile) Highly commended A double lenticular cloud is illuminated at nightfall by the lava emitted from the Villarrica volcano, Chile. Villarica is in the town of Pucón in the south of Chile. It’s one of the country’s most active volcanoes and last erupted in 2015. Francisco takes regular trips to Villarrica to monitor its activity. On this visit, he stayed nearby for 10 nights.

The four ‘Highly Commended’ images include ‘Earth and Sky’ by Francisco Negroni, a double lenticular cloud illuminated at nightfall by lava emitted from the Villarrica volcano in Chile, and ‘Edge of Night’ by Jess Findlay, an action shot showing a ghostly barn owl exiting through the hayloft window of a derelict barn to hunt.

Edge of Night by Jess Findlay (Canada) Highly commended A ghostly barn owl exits the hayloft window of a derelict barn to hunt in fields outside Vancouver, Canada. Jess quietly watched the owl for several nights to understand its habits. He set up an invisible beam that would trigger a flash when the owl flew out of the barn. Simultaneously, a slow shutter speed gathered ambient light cast on the clouds and barn. On the tenth night, all the moving parts came together as the owl left to begin its hunt.

The two other finalist images depict a stoat sitting up to observe its territory as it blends perfectly into a snowy landscape in Belgium in Michel d’Oultremont’s image ‘Whiteout’, and David Northall’s capture ‘Spiked’ which shows a bloodied yet determined honey badger returning to finish off a Cape porcupine, which had tried to defend itself earlier.

Whiteout by Michel d’Oultremont (Belgium) Highly commended A stoat sits up and observes its territory as it blends perfectly into a snowy landscape in Belgium. Michel had been looking for stoats in the snow for many years. The magic of snowfall fascinates Michel every winter. He wanted to take a photograph that showed how the stoats blend in with the whiteness of the landscape. He’d seen a few in Switzerland but never in his native Belgium. Then, finally his dream came true.

Spiked by David Northall (UK) Highly commended
A bloodied yet determined honey badger returns to finish off a Cape porcupine, which earlier had tried to defend itself. Found throughout Botswana, honey badgers are famously ferocious. They often chase animals many times their own size. This honey badger got an unpleasant surprise when it attacked the normally nocturnal Cape porcupine. The badger grabbed the porcupine’s right leg. In defence, the porcupine repeatedly backed into its attacker, piercing it with many quills. During a lull in the attack, the porcupine managed to shuffle away, its leg badly damaged. After a short retreat, the bloodied badger returned. It finished off the porcupine under a bush close to the original attack then dragged it into its underground den. — Spiked by David Northall (UK) Highly commended A bloodied yet determined honey badger returns to finish off a Cape porcupine, which earlier had tried to defend itself. Found throughout Botswana, honey badgers are famously ferocious. They often chase animals many times their own size. This honey badger got an unpleasant surprise when it attacked the normally nocturnal Cape porcupine. The badger grabbed the porcupine’s right leg. In defence, the porcupine repeatedly backed into its attacker, piercing it with many quills. During a lull in the attack, the porcupine managed to shuffle away, its leg badly damaged. After a short retreat, the bloodied badger returned. It finished off the porcupine under a bush close to the original attack then dragged it into its underground den.

Ian’s image and the four finalist Highly Commended images were selected from a shortlist of 25 images chosen by the Natural History Museum, London, and an international judging panel from almost 60,000 images submitted for the sixtieth Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

The five images will be displayed both online and on the interactive voting screens in the flagship exhibition at the Natural History Museum, London, on until 29 June 2025.