Lynx and rodent photo wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year public vote - Natural History Museum

A photo of an Iberian lynx playfully throwing its prey in the air has been crowned the winner of the Nuveen People’s Choice Award 2026.

Titled Flying Rodent, the image by Josef Stefan soared to first place after more than 85,000 people across the world took part in the public vote.

Once pushed to the brink of extinction, the Iberian lynx is now seen as a conservation success story.

The cats had long been top of Josef’s list to photograph. He finally got the opportunity to do this from a hide at Torre de Juan Abad in Ciudad Real, central Spain. Josef watched the lynx toy with the rodent for about 20 minutes before it got bored and ate it. It’s common for lynx to play with their prey before killing it.

This playful but grisly scene impressed the public, who chose Josef’s photo as the winner of the Nuveen People’s Choice Award 2026.

Symbols of hope

The Iberian lynx was once one of the most endangered mammals in the world.

One of four species of lynx, they’re only found on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. The charismatic cats are known for their spotted, reddish-brown fur and black-tufted ears. These features help them blend into the Mediterranean landscape while they hunt.

While their camouflage didn’t save them from near extinction, the cats have since become icons of hope.

“They’re an amazing conservation success story,” says one of our researchers, Dr Natalie Cooper. “In the early 2000s only around 100 individuals were left in a few small pockets of habitat in Spain. Only 62 of these were mature individuals.”