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Sergey Gorshkov has been awarded the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year for his exceptional image of a Siberian tiger marking the scent in a remote Russian forest.
The competition jury was delighted to see the image of a tiger scent marking, a rarely photographed behavior. Judge Susan McElhinney described the winning image as’ a rare and intimate glimpse of a highly endangered species going through its daily rounds of checking its territorial boundaries or scent marks, leaving messages and reading other cats’ messages’ ‘.
This important part of their behavior helps tigers avoid conflict with each other. As Judge Jaime Rojo explains, “These Siberian tigers really need large areas of well-protected habitat to survive. Each of them has a large territory. ‘
Unfortunately, large-scale deforestation in the region has threatened the habitat of Siberian tigers. As parts of the forest are destroyed, these animals are forced further into each other’s territory, increasing the chances of conflict.
This, Jaime explains, is the reason why tigers mark with scent: “They are trying to avoid conflicts. If another male trespasses on their territory, there will be confrontation, and wild animals will try to avoid confrontation. ‘
Wild nature
Siberian (or Amur) tigers live near Russia’s east coast and along its border with China and North Korea. In addition to being a visually stunning image, Sergey has managed to photograph an extremely rare animal that exhibits its natural behavior in a truly wild landscape.
For the judges, it was this combination of beauty and untouched nature that made her a winning image. Rosamund ‘Roz’ Kidman Cox OBE, chair of the jury, explains why the image was so special to her: “It’s such an intimate scene, that powerful arm hugging such a huge trunk and the expression of pure ecstasy. It is a tiger image very different from any other.
But it is also the Siberian forest environment that makes this image so special. It’s so different, so mysterious, and with that heavenly light, the scene is so rich in light and shadow, detail and texture, that it’s almost as if the composition had been painted in oil. ”
Tiger untrapped received the Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Species in 2013.
© Toshiji Fukuda
While the Siberian landscape is rich in beauty and makes a perfect habitat for the elusive Amur tiger, it is still a difficult landscape for a photographer to work with. Sergey explains: ‘The impenetrable taiga is an ideal habitat for the Siberian tiger, but it is very difficult to photograph it here.’
Sergey relied on the use of camera traps to get his image perfectly discreet. For him, this made the project even more interesting. He says, ‘I don’t see the tiger and I can only predict what will happen in front of the camera, so I become the director and operator of an invisible scene.’
‘In January 2019, I installed my first Nikon hidden camera near this fir tree, and only in November did I manage to capture a tiger. I feel lucky to get such rare shots. ‘
For the judges, Sergey’s use of camera traps helped secure his title as Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Susan adds: “There is no sense of intrusion by the photographer or camera crew, only the afternoon sun filtered by leaves illuminates a scene we could dream of: an established forest that acts as a home, hunting ground, protector for generations of Siberian tigers. “
It was the dappled natural lighting of the scene that benefited the image, according to Jaime. He says, ‘There was something unique about that and I think it’s the use of natural light. We often see these camera trap images under artificial light, but in this case it’s clear that there are no flares, and it’s just the light that was there and I think that makes it different.
A species on the brink
Like its cousins in Java and Bali, the Siberian tiger was in danger of extinction in the mid-20th century. But thanks to legal protection and careful conservation efforts, their numbers have slowly started to increase.
Panthera tigris tigris, Bengal tiger © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
However, Sergey is concerned about the survival of the species. He says: “I am very concerned that the tiger has less time: the Chinese market for medicines based on tiger bones, skin and claws is thriving and the fewer tigers left, the higher their cost.”
Photographs like this are vital to the conservation and protection of threatened species. By capturing this serene moment, Sergey has been able to share with the world the behavior of this majestic cat while calling for the conservation of Siberian habitats.
When asked what makes this image so important, Jamie considered his contribution to the competition. He says: ‘I think this image sums up the spirit of the competition very well. We’re talking about the Wildlife Photographer of the Year here, and what’s wilder than a Siberian tiger in the Russian wilderness?
I think this image has the potential to become an icon for conserving nature and wild places because it shows one of the most powerful land predators, also one of the most threatened, in its habitat, and shows an intricate relationship between species and habitat. ‘
Roz adds: “ What makes it doubly special is when she learns that it is not just an endangered animal, photographed in the wild, but from a region of Siberia where the rigorous protection of a large area of forest it’s actually leading to an increase in tiger numbers.
“That’s a really great thing.”
