This year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year Impact Award Winner is Fernando Faciole whose shot was of an orphaned giant anteater pup following its caregiver after an evening feed at a rehabilitation centre.
Faciole said he wanted to highlight the consequences of road collisions, a leading cause of the decline in giant anteater numbers in Brazil, with his picture titled ‘Orphan of the Road’.
Judges at the competition, organised by the UK’s Natural History Museum explained that the Impact Award highlights a story of hope and a conservation success.
This pup’s mother was killed by a vehicle, and the hope is that it will be released back into the wild after being encouraged to develop crucial survival skills by its caregiver.
Alongside rehabilitation centres, the Anteaters and Highways project of the Wild Animal Conservation Institute is developing strategies to reduce anteater deaths on Brazil’s roads. These include erecting fences and building underground tunnels to allow the anteaters to cross safely.
Faciole is a conservation storyteller and National Geographic Explorer 2024. With a background in biological sciences, his work focuses on critical conservation stories across Latin America, documenting endangered species and threatened ecosystems in the region.
He’s a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, and his work has been featured by major outlets such as National Geographic Magazine and BBC Wildlife Magazine
See the powerful image in the new exhibition opening at the Natural History Museum, London.
Follow Faciole’s Instagram profile here
