People’s Choice: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026

© Nima Sarikhani / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The Final Portrait. A polar-bear cub looks into the camera as it accompanies its mother on an unsuccessful hunting trip. There’s a sad story behind this picture, taken on the coast of the Svalbard archipelago. Soon after it was taken, the polar bear and its family went too close to an area of huts, and people forced them away. Not long after, the mother bear was found dead in the water near the shore. According to reports, she had died from serious internal injuries.