Leaping Lemurs! Global Nature Abounds in the 2025 BigPicture Competition

Across a wide, rocky gap at the Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve in Madagascar, a lemur is illuminated by the sun as it leaps with its baby. Captured by Donglin Zhou, the photograph took the $5,000 Grand Prize in this year’s Big Picture Competition, highlighting a rare, daring moment as the troop emerged in search of food.

BigPicture aims to highlight the earth’s phenomenal biodiversity and encourage important conservation efforts. Jurors reviewed thousands of entries submitted to the 12th annual contest, highlighting photographers’ unique global takes on aquatic, winged, and terrestrial life, along with landscapes, the human-nature relationship, and a creative category called “Art of Nature.”

an aerial photo of whales swimming among ice floes — Jonas Beyer, “The Pathfinders”

Cast your vote by July 31 for your favorite photo as part of the 2nd annual People’s Choice Award. The BigPicture exhibition opens on October 5 at California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and entries for the 2026 contest will be accepted starting December 1. Follow updates on Instagram.

an underwater photo of a newt ball — Anton Sorokin, “California Newt Ball”

a photo of an insect holding onto a leaf — Clay Bolt, “The Smell of Success,” Tatama National Park, Colombia

two rays swimming underwater, one with a white belly and the other with a black back — Melanie Müller, “Yin Yang,” Guraidhoo, Maldives

a pallas cat with snow caked onto its fur and face — Mohammad Murad, “No Eyes,” Mongolia

a white moth lands on a thistle against a blue, sunny sky — Pål Hermansen, “Apollo,” Gotland, Sweden

an otherworldly landscape in Morocco with palm trees in a flooded plain, with undulating sand dunes in the background — Stelios Misinas, “Desert Flood,” Merzouga, Morocco

a white bat takes wing from a large leaf, where its babies are nestled — Dvir Barkay, “Leaving The Roost,” Near La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

a baby elephant dips in the water underneath its parent — Dewold Tromp, “Pure Bliss,” Chobe River, Botswana

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