Herculean ants, a sunbathing heron and turtles gliding through the Red Sea: Award-winning photographers capture the weird and wonderful creatures in our animal kingdom Leafcutter ants, Red Sea turtles and endangered pandas among entries to London Zoo's Animal Photography Prize Last Chance to See category showcased endangered animals, while Deep and Meaningful entries showed ocean life Competition winners were chosen by judges TV presenter Kate Humble and environmentalist David Bellamy A tiny leafcutter ant demonstrating its herculean strength and a mesmerising shot of a turtle gliding through the Red Sea are among the winning images submitted to this year's Zoological Society of London's (ZSL) Animal Photography competition. This selection of winning and commended images are a taster of the pictures entered into the contest, which will be exhibited at ZSL London Zoo from today. It is the second year the competition has been running and thousands of amateur and professional photographers entered images into categories including Last Chance to See, designed to showcase endangered animals, and the Deep and Meaningful category that features deep sea and ocean creatures. This shot of a tiny leafcutter ant carrying part of a flower won Zoological Society London's Animal Photography Prize in the adult Size Matters category. This image was called 'A giant trophy for a small ant' and was taken by Bence Mate. Leafcutter ants are capable of carrying up to 50 times their own body weight and are also called parasol ants because of the way they carry items above their heads ZSL's Animal Photography Prize category six was called Deep and Meaningful and the winner of the adult entry was taken by Vaclav Krpelik, pictured. It shows a turtle gliding through the Red Sea and was taken by Krpelik while free-diving in the Abu Dabbab bay. This photo is called the Slowest Sprinter The 2013 ZSL Animal Photography Prize was launched in February 'to inspire amateur and professional photographers to get out and capture the magic of the natural world.' Run by the international animal conservation charity, the competition winners were chosen by a panel of judges including ZSL Honorary Conservation Fellow and television presenter Kate Humble and environmentalist David Bellamy. Photographer Vaclav Krpelik, whose highly commended image The Slowest Sprinter, depicts a turtle in the Red Sea. Krpelik said: 'I met this big animal when free-diving in the Abu Dabbab bay. It emerged out of nowhere, eating the sea grass and coming right at me. This image captures the precise moment when the turtle decided to come up to the surface to take a breath. I am honoured to have my picture on display at ZSL London Zoo and through this competition I would like to draw attention to this amazing creature. ZSL's photography exhibition manager Sarah Barron added: 'After the calibre of the entries into the ZSL Animal Photography Prize in 2012 we had high hopes for this year's competition, but we couldn't have anticipated the incredible quality of the images entered. The category names are designed to encourage photographers to think more profoundly about the natural world and the winning images truly reflect this aim; each photo provokes curiosity and wonder about the animal kingdom. Photographer Michael Gallagher took the left-hand images, called Parrotfish Portrait and was given a highly commended award by a panel of judges including television presenter Kate Humble and environmentalist David Bellamy. The sunbathing heron, pictured right, was captured by junior photographer Emma Collins In category three, called Weird and Wonderful, photographer Jeremy Cusack was given a highly commended award for this shot of a green gecko. The creature is only found in the Northland region of New Zealand. They typically grow up to 20cm. The annual competition run by the Zoological Society of London was launched in 2012 in a bid to inspire amateur and professional photographers to get out and capture the wonders of the natural world ZSL's Last Chance to See category celebrated endangered animals, such as this giant panda photo taken by Tom Mayor. The shot is called Tranquility and was highly commended by the judges 'The exhibition at ZSL London Zoo will not only be a fantastic experience for our visitors, but will help us to impassion people about the world's wildlife.' Thousands of adult and junior photographers submitted entries to be in with a chance of winning part of the £10,000 prize fund. Photographer Bence Mate won the adult Size Matters category for his shot of a tiny leafcutter ant carrying part of a flower called 'A giant trophy for a small ant'. Leafcutter ants are capable of carrying up to 50 times their own body weight and are also called parasol ants because of the way they carry items above their head. In category three, called Weird and Wonderful, photographer Jeremy Cusack was given a highly commended award for his shot of a green gecko. Photographer Michael Gallagher took a photo called Parrotfish Portrait and was given a highly commended award by the panel of judges. While a sunbathing heron shot was captured by junior photographer Emma Collins while holidaying in the Maldives. Another image on display at the Zoo included a giant panda silhouetted against a black background, shot by Tom Mayor. The annual competition was launched in 2012. Entry to the ZSL Animal Photography Exhibition is included in the ticket price for London Zoo.