The Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards (WPY), which attracts thousands of photographers each year, were created in 1964 as an initiative of the Natural History Museum in London.

The winners of this year's edition were announced on Wednesday, Oct. 13, and the annual exhibition, with the winning works, is expected to go public on Friday, Oct. 15 at the Museum. Then the photographs will begin a national tour through the United Kingdom and make the international leap to visit Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the United States, among other countries.

The prize for Wildlife Photographer of the Year went to France's Laurent Ballesta, who captured an amazing image of a school of groupers that, as part of the beautiful circle of life, prepare to inseminate eggs released by the females. 

The photograph was taken in the Fakarava Atoll, in the Pacific Ocean, at a nature reserve that offers protection for the species. Laurent was also awarded Underwater Photography of the Year.

• Category 'Future Star': Martin Gregus- Canada: Polar bears come to shore in summer. 
• Animal portrait category: Majed Ali from Kuwait captured a nearly 40-year-old mountain gorilla closing its eyes in the rain. 
• Amphibian and reptile behavior category: João Rodrigues, from Portugal, presented a pair of nice salamanders. 
• Photojournalism Category: Adam Oswell from Australia showed a scene of an elephant forced to perform at a zoo. 
• Mammal behavior category: Stefano Unterthiner, from Italy, captured the moment when two Svalbard reindeer faced off. 
• Wetlands Category: Javier Lafuente, from Spain, took an incredible photo of a wetland from his drone. 
• Urban wildlife category: Gil Wizen from Israel found a poisonous Brazilian wandering spider hiding under her bed. 
• 15-17 year old category: Lasse Kurkela, from Finland, managed to capture a Siberian jay flying up to a fir tree to store food. 
• Category 10 years or younger: Vidyun R Hebbar from India found a busy spider web in a hole in a wall. 
• Portfolio Category: Ángel Fitor, from Spain, offered a different look at the life of the cichlid fish of Lake Tanganyika, the oldest of the Great Lakes of East Africa.

Click this link to view the winning photos and learn more about them