Animal-lovers and photography aficionados alike can now vote for their favorite images in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award, which opened for public voting on Wednesday.
Shortlisted photographs include a kangaroo and its joey amid charred eucalyptus trees in the wake of catastrophic Australian bushfires. Taken in a burned plantation in early 2020 by Jo-Anne McArthur of Canada, it shows the destruction wrought by the blazes that were at the time tearing through the states of New South Wales and Victoria.
The fires, which killed 34 people, destroyed at least 44.5 million hectares of land and affected nearly 3 billion animals, have been described as “the most devastating natural disaster in living memory.”
McArthur’s picture is one of 25 images selected from over 50,000 entries from 95 countries, which are available online and on display at the Natural History Museum in London until June 5. Voting will be open until February 2, 2022.
