Crouching fox, hidden marmot

THIS GRIPPING action shot that captures “the perfect moment” has won its talented photographer the prestigious title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Hailing from the Chinese province of Qinghai, Yongqing Bao stunned judges for his extraordinary image, The Moment, which frames a standoff between a Tibetan fox and a marmot.

Organisers of the contest, awarded by London’s Natural History Museum, described the image as “a powerful frame of both humour and horror”.

Judging panel chairwoman Roz Kidman Cox, said it was “simply the perfect moment”.

“The expressive intensity of the postures holds you transfixed, and the thread of energy between the raised paws seems to hold the protagonists in perfect balance,” she said.

“Images from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are rare enough, but to have captured such a powerful interaction between a Tibetan fox and a marmot — two species key to the ecology of this high-grassland region — is extraordinary.”

New Zealander Cruz Erdmann, 14, won the award for Young Wildlife Photographer with his serene portrait of an iridescent big fin reef squid, right, off North Sulawesi in Indonesia.

The teen, who gained his diving certification at 10, took up capturing aquatic life after inheriting his father’s old underwater camera.

The mammals category was won by German-born Ingo Arndt for his shot of a puma in Patagonia attacking its prey, top left.

The portfolio award was won by Stegan Christmann for his photo The Huddle, showing emperor penguins in Antarctica, left.