Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan risked crocodiles and other dangers to snap this stunning image of an orangutan, named National Geographic's top nature photo for 2017.
The annual survey picks from four categories: animals, landscapes, aerials, and underwater. There are juried prizes and a people's choice category.
The backstory on the winning image is quite sad:
A male orangutan peers from behind a tree while crossing a river in Borneo, Indonesia. Rampant palm oil cultivation threatens this critically endangered ape, forcing the normally arboreal species to resort to unusual behavior—such as wading through crocodile-infested rivers—in order to survive.
Bojan wins $7500 and will have the image published in National Geographic. Each winning image is downloadable for use as wallpaper.
• 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year (Nat Geo via PetaPixel)
