Incredible treetop shot of Bornean Orangutan wins top prize for “Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016”

We’ve seen some pretty spectacular award-winning shots of Indonesia’s orangutans before, but never one quite like this.

Veteran American wildlife photographer Tim Laman just won the prestigious “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” award from London’s Natural History Museum for this shot which captures an orangutan in Borneo in its natural habitat unlike any we’ve ever seen before.

The photo was part of a series on endangered species in Borneo and Sumatra he did titled “Entwined Lives”. To capture the incredible photo, Laman spent three days climbing up and down enormous trees setting up GoPro cameras near the top of them that could be remotely activated. Clearly the effort was worth it.

Laman is not only a wildlife photographer but also a field biologist who did pioneering research on the rainforest canopy in Borneo which led to a PhD from Harvard. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic magazine and has a reputation for being able to get seemingly impossible shots of animals in action.

Congratulations to Tim for his win and for all of the fantastic work he does bringing attention to the incredible but at risk wildlife of Indonesia.



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