A Dutch photographer Marsel van Oosten was crowned with the Photographer of the year 2018 for clicking a portrait of two endangered blue face monkeys in a remote Chinese forest.
Marsel spent several days in China’s Qinling Mountains observing a troop of 50 monkeys. The winning ‘Golden Couple’ image showcases a beautiful golden fur-blue face male monkey rested briefly on a stone seat, joined by female baby monkey, set among the temperate forest of Qinling Mountains where they live.
They represent the poorly known primate diversity found in China, much of which is silently sliding toward extinction. The golden snub-nose monkeys are little known outside of their native range of China’s Qinling Mountains.
On receiving the award, winner Marsel told BBC News he was “shocked and honoured” to receive the award. “I am happy that it is with this particular image because it is an endangered species and one that very few people even know exists and it is important that we realise that there are a lot of species on this planet that are under threat.
There were more than 45,000 entries from across 95 countries for the competition, which is now in its 54th year and hailed as the pinnacle of wildlife photography.
Have a look at other prize-winning photographs
Signature tree by Alejandro Prieto, Mexico
Dream duel by Michel d’Oultremont, Belgium
Lounging leopard by Skye Meaker, South Africa
Pipe owls by Arshdeep Singh, India
Bed of seals by Cristobal Serrano, Spain
