This Gorgeous Image of a Tiger Hugging a Tree Is the Wildlife Photograph of the Year
The powerful, expressive photo is truly remarkable, and stands out amongst a field of impressive entries — see them all for yourself
Amidst the magical surroundings of a forest in the Russian far east, an extremely rare Amul tigress ecstatically embraces a Manchurian fir tree, marking it with her scent to communicate with others of her kind. It took photographer Sergey Gershkov 10 months of waiting to catch a glimpse of this solitary creature, but his dedication was rewarded with a once-in-a-lifetime shot. This year’s winner of the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, “The Embrace” is a remarkable portrait of a rare and beautiful animal in her natural environment. “It’s a scene like no other,” says Rosamund Kidman Cox, chair of the judging panel that selected Gershkov’s photo out of more than 49,000 entries from around the world:
A unique glimpse of an intimate moment deep in a magical forest. Shafts of low winter sun highlight the ancient fir tree and the coat of the huge tigress as she grips the trunk in obvious ecstasy and inhales the scent of tiger on resin, leaving her own mark as her message. It’s also a story told in glorious colour and texture of the comeback…
