Images from a world-famous wildlife photography competition are going to be exhibited at a Peterborough shopping centre.  

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is visiting the Queensgate Shopping Centre between June 3 and July 7.  

It will be located in Central Square and free for everyone to admire the selection of incredible images that capture animal behaviour and the natural world.  

The exhibition will feature the very best work submitted for last year's 2023 competition when it was celebrating its 59th year.  

That year, there were 49,957 entries from photographers of all ages and experiences levels from 95 countries.  

Peterborough Matters: Shashwat Harish, from Kenya, was awarded Highly Commended in the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2023.Shashwat Harish, from Kenya, was awarded Highly Commended in the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2023. (Image: Shashwat Harish / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)French underwater photographer and marine biologist was awarded the top accolade for a second time for her image of a tri-spine horseshoe crab accompanied by a trio of golden trevallies.  

The exhibition will also feature a variety of ‘Highly Commended’ images, including a Mediterranean stargazer fish peering through the sand captured by Italian Pietro Formis. 

It had wriggled into the sand to bury itself until it was practically invisible except for its eyes and teeth to lie in wait for prey.  

Peterborough Matters: Pietro Formis, from Italy, discovered a Mediterranean stargazer fish peering through the sandy coastal waters.Pietro Formis, from Italy, discovered a Mediterranean stargazer fish peering through the sandy coastal waters. (Image: Pietro Formis / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)Other entries during the same year included an image of a two-coloured mason bee building the roof of its nest by Solvin Zankl from Germany as well as bison kicking up flurries of snow in Yellowstone National Park, USA. 

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2023 went to 17-year-old Carmel Bechler, from Israel, for a dynamic frame of barn owls in an abandoned roadside building.     

The images were judged at the Natural History Museum in London.  

Peterborough Matters: Photographer Max Waugh captured this a plains bison kicking up flurries of snow over its bulky frame in Yellowstone National Park.Photographer Max Waugh captured this a plains bison kicking up flurries of snow over its bulky frame in Yellowstone National Park. (Image: Max Waugh / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)Dr Doug Gurr, the museum’s director, said: “We are facing urgent  
biodiversity and climate crises, and photography is a powerful catalyst for change.  

“The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition reveals some of nature’s most wondrous sights whilst offering hope and achievable actions visitors can take to help protect the natural world.”