A hippopotamus sinks its fangs on a rival’s calf in this frightening video.
In the photograph, the male bull has the newborn hippo in his teeth and is about to throw it into the water in a bloodbath.
In the shot captured by a Russian photographer in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, a male hippo was assaulting a rival’s calf.
In the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers’ Wonderful Wildlife Photography Competition, the shot was highly praised.
The competition’s winner was a photograph of a stag glaring down the camera in London’s Richmond Park.
Mark Lynham, 58, of Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, snapped the moment with his wife Amanda during their first visit to Richmond Park in October.
“We’d never been before but had been wanting to go for a few years and eventually decided to go.
“We arrived as the sun began to rise and strolled along various paths. It wasn’t long before we spotted our first deer as the sun began to rise.
“We proceeded farther into the woods, where there were ferns and trees.” It was really quiet and motionless, and I had the impression that I was being observed after a time.
“I came to a halt and carefully turned around to see the stag standing in the ferns, staring at us.” The silence was deafening.
“I carefully raised my camera and managed to get a few images in.”
“It remained still for about a minute before turning around and going away.
“It was a fantastic moment, and I knew I had a wonderful photograph of the stag when I looked at the back of the camera, and the fall tones really enhance to the image.
“It was a journey definitely worth taking.”
Cecilie Stuedal, 24, from Innlandet, Norway, came in second place in the competition with her photo of an Arctic fox pup at sunset.
Alan Shearman, a British photographer, came in third place with an image of a rare red-backed shrike bird devouring a grasshopper.
“This shrike was photographed in the RSPB West Canvey Marsh in south Essex, where it stayed for approximately two weeks one fall,” he explained.
“It ate grasshoppers mostly and displayed effectively by using a fence near a walkway as a lookout point.”
A photograph of a kestrel peering into the lens as it soared away with its meal clasped securely in its claws, captured by Maggie Bullock of Northwich, Cheshire, was also highly commended.
Ann Aveyard’s second stag photo, taken at London’s Bushy Park, was also highly commended in the competition.
“This competition was highly popular, with photographs coming in from all across the world,” said Colin Jones, the society’s director.
“Mark’s lovely photograph was picked as the winner because the delicate tones and color perfectly depict the competition’s topic.”