Iberian wolf

A picture of a hunting wolf has won the prestigious Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009 award (WPY is owned by the London Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine).

José Luis Rodríguez, the photographer, has told: "I wanted to capture a photo in which you would see a wolf in an act of hunting - or predation - but without blood. I didn't want a cruel image."

When he started planning the photograph, he feared that he might not be able to get close enough to the Iberian wolves.

Iberian wolves are a subspecie of the grey wolf. They live close to human habitation in northern Spain. They are often persecuted by people who see them as a threat to livestock, and they are consequently very wary.

He eventually captured it using a photographic trap that included a motion sensor and an infrared barrier to operate the camera.

He hopes that his picture, "showing the wolf's great agility and strength", will become an image that can be used to show just how beautiful the Iberian wolf is and how the Spanish can be proud to have such an emblematic animal.

Hasselblad 503CW with a 6x6 Fujichrome backing + Planar 80mm lens; 1/30 sec at f11; ISO 50; purpose-made Ficap infrared camera trap.

Info extracted from: BBC News. Click the image to enlarge.