Igor Metelskiy's Image

Igor Metelskiy (Russia) shows a lynx stretching in the early evening sunshine, its body mirroring the undulating wilderness.

The remote location and changing weather conditions made access to this spot – and transporting equipment there – a challenge.

Igor positioned his camera trap near the footprints and droppings of potential prey. It took more than six months of waiting to achieve this relaxed image of the elusive lynx.

Editor and Chair of the Jury Kathy Moran says “from the cat’s fur to the snow, to the bare trees and the shape of the mountains in the background, I feel like I can touch all of the elements in the image. The collaboration between lynx and photographer is magic – one setting the scene and waiting six months for this encounter while the other simply saunters through, takes a bow, leaves a photograph and moves on.”

A survey carried out in 2013 estimated that the entire Russian lynx population was around 22,500, with numbers for the Russian Far East, including those in Primorsky Krai, at 5,890.