Portrait of Iberian Wolf Wins Wildlife Photography Prize

Spanish photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez has won the 2009 Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year award with his photo of an Iberian wolf leaping over a gate.  He used an infrared camera trap to capture the moment.

Iberian wolves have been persecuted by people who see them as a threat to game and livestock and because of ignorance about the supposed danger they pose… In Spain, the population of Iberian wolves – a subspecies of the grey wolf – is thought to number 1000-2000 in the north, with a few tiny, isolated populations in the south… What José Luis hopes is that his picture, ‘showing the wolf’s great agility and strength,’ becomes an image that shows just how beautiful the Iberian wolf is and how the Spanish can be proud of this emblematic animal.

Link, where you can also access winning photographs in other categories.