Italian Photographer Wins 2026 Wildlife Award for Elephant Grief Image

Federico Veronesi, an Italian photographer, has won the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition with his image "The Aftermath," which captures a female elephant carrying a deceased calf through Namibia's Huab River Valley. Veronesi discovered the scene while tracking elephant herds in September 2025, noticing unusual drag marks in the sand of a dry riverbed. When he located the elephant, he found her carrying the stillborn calf, its leg wedged between her trunk and tusk. The calf's soft, intact condition indicated it had died only hours before being discovered.

Initially, Veronesi believed the elephant was the calf's mother. However, after consulting with researchers from the Elephant Human Relations Aid (EHRA) project working in the region, he learned the elephant was not the biological parent. The female, now 14 years old, had lost her own calf approximately two years prior. Researchers confirmed she has since been observed carrying dead calves belonging to other elephants on four separate occasions—a behaviour documented for the first time in the area. This discovery adds complexity to the image's meaning, suggesting the elephant may be processing her own grief or attempting to reconnect with her lost offspring.

The competition received a record-breaking 65,403 entries from 121 countries and territories. Jury chair Kathy Moran described the winning photograph as operating "on so many levels"—emotionally devastating while intellectually demonstrating animal cognition. Veronesi noted the moment felt deeply private and initially hesitated to photograph it, but ultimately recognized it as "a window into the soul" of these creatures. He presented the image in black and white to heighten the emotional connection between animal and viewer.

Elephants exhibit complex behaviours in response to death, including evidence that both African and Asian elephants guard, carry, and inspect deceased relatives and non-relatives. Scientists debate whether these actions constitute mourning rituals or other forms of emotional processing. Veronesi observed the elephant carrying the calf for hours, occasionally setting it down to feed before retrieving it and continuing along the Huab River.

The exhibition of winning photographs opens at London's Natural History Museum on 16 October 2026 and runs until July 2027. The competition also awarded the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year title to Oscar Whitfield for his photograph "Labour of Love," which depicts a dung beetle pushing its prize. The broader exhibition includes category winners across topics including animal portraits, birds, underwater life, and environmental wildlife photography.