One of Staffan Widstrands images was this year awarded the title ”Specially Commended” in the Animal Behaviour: Mammals category of the ”2001 BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition”. This is Widstrands seventh winning image during the last six years of the famous competition – widely considered the World´s Number One Nature Photography Competition. This includes two Category winners, one Runner-up and four Highly/Specially Commended images.
– I am so happy the jury appreciated this moose image, says Widstrand.
– It was a truly impressive experience to have the possibility to stay for hours with him, at point-blank range, and the animal not being shy at all. In fact it was my own carefulness that kept the distance between us.
Caption to the 2001 image:
European Moose eating its velvet
The moose in the Sarek National Park in Swedish Lapland are used to people.
Moose-hunting has been banned here for years, and hundreds of nature-lovers trek through the park each year. This bull in the Rapa Valley allowed me to get as close to him as I ever wanted. When I first saw him, his antlers were still covered in velvet. But a couple of hours later, he began beating the trees and bushes around him with his antlers, tearing off the protective, furry skin to reveal a beautiful, brand-new set of antlers, ready for this year’s rut. Some velvet was dangling in his eyes, and so the moose then chewed it off.
Nikon F5 with AFS-Nikkor 600mm lens; 1/250 sec at f8; Fujichrome Astia; 100 rated at 200; tripod.