Young Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024: Mammal Connections

Welcome to Young Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024, where every click of the camera resonates with the call to preserve and cherish the natural world. This year, our theme is “Mammal Connections,” celebrating this intricate web of relationships that mammals share with us, with each other and with the landscapes around them.

We're celebrating all our budding wildlife photographers with this competition, so if you're a young photographer, or your child is interested in wildlife photography, we strongly encourage you to join this competition!

We are taking submissions for the Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024 until 22 March 2024. Voting will begin once submissions close and the public will be available to vote until 1 April 2024. 

You can enter up to five submissions. Please complete this form individually for each submission. One submission can be a series or story of up to 5 photos. Photos must be of British mammals.

Winner of the Young MPOY2020 - Grey Squirrel Peeking by Dylan Jenkins

Before submitting, or taking your photos, please spend some time to read the ethical wildlife photography guidelines and the Terms & Conditions below. If we believe your entry violates these guidelines, we will contact you.

Ethical Wildlife Photography Guidelines

• Wildlife comes before photography. Do not destroy or alter habitat in pursuit of a photo – including traveling to and from a site 
• Do not disturb or distract wildlife to get its attention or to encourage certain behaviour. You could prevent an animal from foraging, hunting or taking cover. Avoid flash photography or the intrusive / dangerous use of drones. Do not set traps for the purposes of photography. 
• Do your research. Don’t go into a habitat or approach wildlife without sufficient knowledge of how to act sensitively and responsibly. 

– Be aware of special reasons for caution or care – eg breeding season 

– Know the signs of stress in your subject species 

– Check for any plant/tree/animal diseases that you must be careful not to spread. 

– Consider any legal protections that apply to species you are photographing (eg dormice / bats) 

• Follow ethical guidelines if putting food out for animals. Consider their health and the way you may influence their natural and safe behaviour. No live bait. 
• Avoid supporting unethical practice. Photos of animals in captivity are not applicable for MPOTY, but consider also if a photo tour or ‘staged’ photo opportunity is ethical and sustainable. 
• Caption accurately and honestly. Misleading information about the circumstances of a photo can lead to misinformation about the behaviour or location of a species, or lead to inappropriate practice by other photographers seeking to learn from your technique. Likewise, the use of digital manipulation to present a false impression of wildlife location or behaviour is unacceptable. 
• Consider what you share. Some species may be the target of persecution, harassment or illegal hunting, and revealing the precise location could put them at risk. Avoid giving away precise locations in the caption or photograph where doing so could put wildlife at risk.