Four of the winning collection of images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition have been revealed, they are among 100 going on show at the Natural History Museum from 24 October 2014 – 30 August 2015. Alongside the exhibition will be a special events programme starting with a unique masterclass from world renowned wildlife photographer Frans Lanting, exclusive preview of the exhibition, and champagne reception on 22 October.

A lone bat occupies a destroyed German WWII bunker in a remote forest in Poland in Winter hang-out by Łukasz Bożycki. Jasper Doest’s striking black-and-white photograph captures the ordered beauty of the demoiselle cranes of Khichan that is The elegant crowd. Young photographer Marc Montes took Snake-eyes while trekking through the forest in the Val d’Aran, Northern Spain. Bernardo Cesare’s image Kaleidoscope was shot in India while examining granulite rock from a working quarry, portraying a crystal formation from a geological event half a billion years ago.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the most prestigious photography event of its kind, providing a global platform that showcases the natural world’s most astonishing and challenging sights for 50 years, Launching in 1965 and attracting just 361 entries, today the competition receives almost 42,000 entries from 96 countries highlighting its enduring appeal. This year’s 100 award-winning images will embark on an international tour in 2014 that allows them to be seen by millions of people across six continents.

New for the fiftieth year will be a mobile site for visitors to access additional information on each image and a film featuring images from the past fifty years.

For more information and to book: www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy

To discover more about the stories behind the images visit the blog at www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy