Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016: Winners' gallery

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The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition opens this week at the National History Museum in London, showcasing the wonders of the animal and plant kingdom in a collection of stunning photographs from around the world.

US photographer Tim Laman won this year's Grand Prize for an image from his series Entwined Lives. The picture shows an orangutan shinning up a tree trunk high above the forest floor in Indonesia's Gunung Palung National Park.

The snapper captured the shot by climbing high into the canopy himself to plant Go-Pro cameras, which he later triggered remotely from the ground when he spotted the orangutan searching for wild figs.

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Jury chair Lewis Black said the "remarkable frame" drew attention to the orangutan's "ever-dwindling habitat".

He added: "The story is well-known but we need outstanding photography like this to bring it across to us afresh.

"It touches our hearts and our minds – and just might help support actions to stop the destruction."

More than 50,000 entries from 95 countries around the world were submitted for consideration this year before a judging panel narrowed them down to just 100 finalists to feature in the exhibition.

From these, 16 overall category winners were chosen in fields such as Mammals, Underwater and Urban wildlife photography.

The finalists' exhibition will run in the East Pavilion of the Natural History Museum from 21 October 2016 to 10 September 2017.