Vegan Wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Canadian photographer Jo-Anne McArthur was named “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” last week by the Natural History Museum of London. McArthur’s photo was of Pikin the gorilla in the arms of caretaker Appolinaire Ndohoudou, who rescued her from poachers in Africa. “I’m so thankful that this image resonated with people,” McArthur told BBC, “and I hope it might inspire us all to care a little bit more about animals.” No act of compassion towards them is ever too small. I regularly document the cruelties animals endure at our hands, but sometimes I bear witness to stories of rescue, hope and redemption.” For the 2017 competition, the Natural History Museum of London selected McArthur’s photo from 50,000 entries to create a list of 24, from which 20,000 voters chose McArthur’s image as their favorite. Last year, McArthur released photo database We Animals Archive—a collection of photos of animals from 50 countries from her project We Animals—with the mission to spread the awareness of the suffering animals endure across the globe through free-to-use images.