Wildlife Photographer Of The Year’s Winning Photo Is A Valentine’s Day Treat

Elyse Wanshel
Updated
(Photo: David Lloyd)
(Photo: David Lloyd)

Love is wild.

Although the 2018 winners of London’s Natural History Museum’s renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition were announced in October, the LUMIX People’s Choice Award was revealed on Wednesday, and the winning photo, titled “Bond of Brothers,” captures a beautifully tender moment between two male lions.

Photographer David Lloyd was in Tanzania when he spotted the two cats — most likely brothers — nuzzling each other’s faces for 30 seconds as he snapped his award-winning black-and-white photo. The contest notes that it is unusual for lions to do this for such a long amount of time.

“I’m so pleased that this image did well,” Lloyd said. “Because it illustrates the emotion and feeling of animals and emphasizes that this is not limited to humans. It is something I think more people need to be aware of for the sake of all animals.”

Four highly commended images also won the hearts of the public and rounded off the top five spots. You can check them out below.

Bond of Brothers

"These two adult males, probably brothers, greeted and rubbed faces for 30 seconds before settling down. Most people never have the opportunity to witness such animal sentience, and David was honored to have experienced and captured such a moment. The picture was taken in Ndutu, Serengeti, Tanzania."
"These two adult males, probably brothers, greeted and rubbed faces for 30 seconds before settling down. Most people never have the opportunity to witness such animal sentience, and David was honored to have experienced and captured such a moment. The picture was taken in Ndutu, Serengeti, Tanzania."

Fox Meets Fox

"Matthew has been photographing foxes close to his home in north London for over a year and ever since spotting this street art had dreamt of capturing this image. After countless hours and many failed attempts his persistence paid off."
"Matthew has been photographing foxes close to his home in north London for over a year and ever since spotting this street art had dreamt of capturing this image. After countless hours and many failed attempts his persistence paid off."

A Polar Bear’s Struggle

"Justin’s whole body pained as he watched this starving polar bear at an abandoned hunter's camp, in the Canadian Arctic, slowly heave itself up to standing. With little, and thinning, ice to move around on, the bear is unable to search for food."
"Justin’s whole body pained as he watched this starving polar bear at an abandoned hunter's camp, in the Canadian Arctic, slowly heave itself up to standing. With little, and thinning, ice to move around on, the bear is unable to search for food."

Three Kings

"Wim came across these king penguins on a beach in the Falkland Islands just as the sun was rising. They were caught up in a fascinating mating behavior — the two males were constantly moving around the female using their flippers to fend the other off."
"Wim came across these king penguins on a beach in the Falkland Islands just as the sun was rising. They were caught up in a fascinating mating behavior — the two males were constantly moving around the female using their flippers to fend the other off."

One Toy, Three Dogs

"While adult African wild dogs are merciless killers, their pups are extremely cute and play all day long. Bence photographed these brothers in Mkuze, South Africa — they all wanted to play with the leg of an impala and were trying to drag it in three different directions!"
"While adult African wild dogs are merciless killers, their pups are extremely cute and play all day long. Bence photographed these brothers in Mkuze, South Africa — they all wanted to play with the leg of an impala and were trying to drag it in three different directions!"

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.