25 wildlife photos that show nature at its most beautiful, weird, and brutal

The Wildlife Photography Awards really is the gift that keeps on giving.

A couple of months back we had the contest's highly commended entries, then we had the overall winners, and now it's time for the People's Choice category.

On Tuesday, London's Natural History Museum — the organisation behind the competition — released a 25-strong shortlist, which ranges from the adorable and the amusing to the dark and disturbing (fair warning, there are a handful of entries right at the bottom of this list that show animals that are either hurt or in captivity — they serve to highlight issues surrounding cruel human treatment of animals, hunting, and the need for conservation but they may well be upsetting, so tread with caution). The following images have been shortlisted from 49,000 entries.

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People can vote for their favouritevia the National History Museum's website, with winners set to be announced on Feb. 9, 2021.

"Spirit of Bhutan" by Emmanuel Rondeau, France. Credit: EMMANUEL RONDEAU "A window to life" by Sergio Marijuán Campuzano, Spain. Credit: SERGIO MARIJUÁN CAMPUZANO "White danger" by Petri Pietiläinen, Finland. Credit: PETRI PIETILÄINEN "The real garden gnomes" by Karine Aigner, USA. Credit: KARINE AIGNER "Coexistence" by Pallavi Prasad Laveti, India. Credit: PALLAVI PRASAD LAVETI "Family portrait" by Andrew Lee, USA. Credit: ANDREW LEE "Baby on the rocks" by Frédéric Larrey, France. Credit: FRÉDÉRIC LARREY "Shut the front door" by Sam Sloss, Italy/USA. Credit: SAM SLOSS "Drey dreaming" by Neil Anderson, UK. Credit: NEIL ANDERSON "A special moment" by Oliver Richter, Germany. Credit: OLIVER RICHTER "Hare ball" by Andy Parkinson, UK. Credit: ANDY PARKINSON "Border refuge" by Joseph Dominic Anthony, Hong Kong/UK. Credit: JOSEPH DOMINIC ANTHONY "Turtle time machine" by Thomas Peschak, Germany/South Africa. Credit: THOMAS P. PESCHAK "The alpha" by Mogens Trolle, Denmark. Credit: MOGENS TROLLE "Eye to eye" by Andrey Shpatak, Russia. Credit: ANDREY SHPATAK "Lion king" by Wim van den Heever, South Africa. Credit: WIM VAN DEN HEEVER "Close encounter" by Guillermo Esteves, USA. Credit: GUILLERMO ESTEVES "Resting dragon" by Gary Meredith, Australia. Credit: GARY MEREDITH "Life Saver" by Sergio Marijuán Campuzano, Spain. Credit: SERGIO MARIJUÁN CAMPUZANO "Bat woman" by Douglas Gimesy, Australia. Credit: DOUGLAS GIMESY "Bushfire" by Robert Irwin, Australia Credit: robert irwin

WARNING: These final four images may be upsetting.

They show, in order: A group of sharks tearing apart a grouper fish; a man comforting the last male northern white rhino in Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy in north Kenya, shortly before it died; the head of a zebra, confiscated from a hunter at the U.S. border; and three Siberian brown bears, chained in captivity at the Saint Petersburg State Circus.

"Drawn and quartered" by Laurent Ballesta, France. Credit: Laurent Ballesta "The last goodbye" by Ami Vitale, USA Credit: Ami Vitale "Licence to kill" by Britta Jaschinski, Germany. Credit: BRITTA JASCHINSKI "Backstage at the circus" by Kirsten Luce, USA. Credit: KIRSTEN LUCE