Wild and beautiful

These stunning images are some of the very best wildlife pictures taken this year.

They are among 63 photos shortlisted for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition.

It is the world's biggest and most prestigious photo exhibition, attracting more than 20,000 entries.

Amateur and professional photographers of all ages were invited to enter the competition, organised by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Experts including key figures from the wildlife and photography worlds have spent the last three months whittling down the entries.

Winners in a number of categories, including Animal Behaviour and The Underwater World, will be revealed at an awards ceremony on October 15.

Three days later all the nominated images, including the overall winner, will go on display at the Natural History Museum.

Competition manager Sarah Kavanagh said the aim was to capture the 'splendour, drama and variety' of life on Earth and inspire a new generation of photographers.

'After 20 years of the competition, you may think we have seen everything but this year's collection of images shows we almost certainly haven't,' she added.