Federico Veronesi won the 61st Wildlife Photographer of the Year title for wildlife photography image “The Aftermath,” a black-and-white scene from Namibia’s Huab River Valley. It shows a female elephant carrying a deceased calf, with the calf’s leg wedged between the animal’s trunk and tusk.
The competition drew 65,403 entries from 121 countries and territories, and London’s Natural History Museum awarded the title today. For readers who track major wildlife photography awards, the winning frame is both a contest result and a rare record of elephant behavior around death.
Huab River Valley and The Aftermath
Veronesi followed an elephant group to a dry riverbed one morning in Namibia, where he found the scene that became “The Aftermath.” After taking the photograph, he watched the female elephant carry the calf up a rocky hill. He said the animal sometimes put the calf down to feed on a small bush before picking it up again.
Kathy Moran, who chairs the competition, said, “This photograph works on so many levels.” She added, “Emotionally it’s a gut punch, heartbreakingly poignant.” Her final line was more analytical: “Intellectually it’s proof that animals have cognition.”
Federico Veronesi and the moment
Veronesi said, “It was really such a private moment, I almost thought maybe I shouldn't take these photographs.” He added, “But then I actually realized this is such a deep and fascinating window into the soul of these creatures.” He later said the image needed a quick reaction in the moment and a camera ready to go.
He also said that showing the picture in black and white helped heighten the connection between animal and viewer. In contest terms, that choice matters because it strips away distraction and leaves the subject, gesture, and weight of the scene to do the work.
Elephants and death behavior
Veronesi contacted a local elephant research project after noticing that the female did not look as if she had recently given birth. Researchers told him the elephant had lost a baby a few years earlier and had since been seen picking up other dead calves. On that basis, Veronesi said, “It's probably a way for her to try to reconnect to that experience in a way.”
He added, “It shows an even higher level of complexity of emotions and reactions.” He also said, “It's very clear that emotionally we are much more similar to them than what is thought.” The image therefore works on two levels at once: it won a major photography title, and it captured behavior that invites careful scientific discussion without turning a single photograph into proof of a universal rule.
What the picture does not settle is why the female kept carrying the calf in that moment and how long she continued. What it does show is why this frame stood out in a field of 65,403 entries: it turns a competition win into a documented encounter that is hard to look past.
