PRESS ROOM

ROYAL OAK, Mich., 

Backlit by the sun, an endangered golden langur stares into the distance as it rests in the treetops on India’s Umananda Island.  On a cloudy night, a humpback whale launches into a graceful arc just beneath the water’s surface off the Norwegian coast.  As night begins to fall, a stubby-horned, high-spirited kid ibex frolics through a field in the Swiss Alps.

These images and more are part of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition – the world’s largest and most prestigious wildlife photography competition.  The Detroit Zoo’s Ford Education Center has once again been selected for the exhibition’s U.S. debut, beginning November 18, 2016.  The show runs through April 2, 2017 and is free with Zoo admission.

“Year after year, this awe-inspiring exhibition showcases the most incredible images of wildlife from around the globe as well as the skill and perfect timing of the photographers,” said Ron Kagan, executive director and CEO of the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS).

The exhibition of winners from the 2016 competition features 100 images dramatically displayed as illuminated large-format color transparencies.  The images were chosen from nearly 50,000 entries by photographers from 95 countries.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will be open during Wild Lights, the Detroit Zoo’s spectacular holiday display featuring more than five million LED lights.  Presented by Bank of America, Wild Lights will be held Nov. 18-20 and 25-27 and Dec. 1-4, 8-11, 15-23 and 26-31, 2016.  Visit https://detroitzoo.org/events/wild-lights for information and tickets.

Now in its 52^nd year, Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.