Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ant (Atta sp) female worker carrying leaf to nest, with a smaller 'minor' ant riding. The minor's job is to protect her sister from parasitic flies. Costa Rica, December. Highly Commended,...

Edwin Giesbers / Female Orang Utan (Pongo pygmaeus) sitting, holding two young. One is her own offspring, the other was rejected by its birth mother, and so this female has adopted it. Both young are 3 months old.Capt...

Tony Wu / Humpback whale calf (Megaptera novaeangliae australis) female nudging her mother's mammary gland whilst trying to feed. Vava;u, Tonga, South Pacific.

Alex Mustard / Common seahorse (Hippocampus kuda) female wrapping her prehensile tail around piece of wood on the seabed. Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Lembeh Strait, Molucca Sea.

Tony Wu / Zoarchias major eelpout (Zoarchias major) with her mouth wide open. Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, Pacific Ocean.

Oriol Alamany / Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) female (hiding below the rock) with her two juveniles resting in snow, in Spiti Valley, Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve, Himalaya, Himachal Pradesh, India, March

Suzi Eszterhas / Leopard (Panthera pardus) mother playing with her six-week-old cub, Jao Reserve, Botswana

John Shaw / Common eider duck (Somateria mollissima) female defending her nest from arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus). Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen. June.

John Shaw / Snow monkey or Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) female with baby clinging to her back. Jigokudani, Japan, February.

Nick Hawkins / A female American black bear (Ursus americanus) and her young cub, Nova Scotia, Canada. July.

Yashpal Rathore / Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) tigress (T32) feeding on Spotted deer / Chital (Axis axis) killed by her earlier that day while her young cub watches. Kanha National Park, Central India. Camera...

Espen Bergersen / Aerial shot of a female Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and calf surrounded by Killer whales (Orcinus orca), mother hits sideways with her tail fluke to drive Killer whales away, Skjervoy, Tro...