11 standout animal photos from this year's Urban Wildlife Photo Awards

The contest was created by the London-based photography platform to celebrate the enduring trend in photographing urban wildlife which proliferated during COVID lockdowns, according to a press release shared with Insider.More than 6,000 photographers from around the world — including Nicolas Bamberski, who took the above photo of a squirrel lounging along the San Francisco Bay — submitted their work for consideration.Now, prints of the winning and finalist images are being sold via Picfair, with the company's profits being donated to the global conservation nonprofit Re:Wild.Interisano's winning photo was taken in the Ontario, Canada, town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.I thought it was my car that had caught their attention as I rounded the corner, and maybe it had at first, the amateur photographer told Picfair of the animals in his photo. But as I rolled down the window, I heard it was another group of howling coyotes that had piqued their interest.Montero's photo shows a rat moments after emerging from a sewer. The biologist took the winning photo in Cuernavaca, Mexico.Finney, an amateur photographer, took home a prize after capturing a raccoon crawling through a drain pipe in Toronto, Canada.I've dreamed of photographing wildlife since I was a kid and only started seriously shooting at the age of almost 50 during COVID lockdown when I decided it was time to make my own National Geographic dreams come true — even if it was only squirrels in the backyard, she told Picfair.I had spotted the lonely flamingo on the water from the opposite bank and had to move quickly in position, anticipating (or rather hoping) it would line up with the wooden frame for a shot, the zoologist and amateur photographer told Picfair.The flamingo lifted its head from under the water for a split second, reaching the frame and allowing only one shot, before carrying on with feeding, Aliczki added of the photo, which he took in Sardinia, Italy.Taken in Melbourne, Australia, Henningham's photo shows a swan getting close and personal with her while swimming through the city's botanical gardens.Simpson took his nominated photo in Portsmouth, United Kingdom. The data analyst told Picfair that he had actually been looking to photograph squirrels the night he captured this image.Barak was in Kingston, Jamaica, when he stumbled upon these monkeys chewing bread. He told Picfair that he especially likes to photograph these animals because they're photogenic and human-like.The amateur photographer told Picfair that he noticed the lizard sitting atop a statue while in Miami, Florida.He didn't move the whole time I was there — it looked as if he belonged, he said.Petrić told Picfair that the cat in his nominated image — taken in Croatia — had been waiting for a fish near the small ship when he snapped his photo.Hay told Picfair that she had been waiting for the sunrise in Toronto, Canada, when around 6:30 a.m., cormorants started flying in slowly, and then by the hundreds.The sound they make on mass is unforgettable, the amateur photographer added. I have seen this a few times but never such a large quantity.

11 standout animal photos from this year's Urban Wildlife Photo Awards

Picfair recently hosted its inaugural Urban Wildlife Photography Awards.

Overall Winner: "Date Night" by Andrew Interisano

Nightlife Winner: "Life Beyond the Sewer" by Austin Montero

Fancy Seeing You Here Winner: "Trash Panda" by Jill Finney

Daylight Winner: "Window to the Salt Pan" by Mano Aliczki

Finalist: "Beak in the Botanic Gardens" by Leigh Henningham

Finalist: "Fox Sheltering" by Paul Simpson

Finalist: "Oh Snap!" by Panama Barak

Finalist: "Which Is the Statue?" by Brandon Z.

Finalist: "Cat and Fish" by Matko Petrić.

Finalist: "The Birds" by Leanne Hay