Page last updated at 09 : 28 GMT , Thursday , 30 October 2008 Snow leopard wins top photo prize By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter , BBC News Steve Winter ' s winning image of a snow leopard on a night - time prowlIn pictures : Images from Wildlife Photographer of the YearA picture of an elusive snow leopard on a night - time prowl has won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008 award . Steve Winter ' s image was captured during a 13 - month quest to snap the perfect photo of the endangered species in its hostile habitat high in the mountains of Central Asia . Speaking about his winning snap , Mr Winter said : " I was thrilled to have finally captured the shot I had dreamed of - a wild snow leopard in its true element . " The competition , now in its 44 th year , is run by BBC Wildlife magazine and London ' s Natural History Museum . The panel of judges spent months shifting through more than 32 , 350 entries before deciding on the winners . " Everything comes together in this striking picture , " said judge Mark Carwardine on Mr Winter ' s image . " The drama of the snow , the mystery of the darkness , the posture of the rarely photographed snow leopard and the intriguing composition . " SNOWSTORM LEOPARDThe picture of an elusive snow leopard , captured at an altitude of more than 13 , 000 ft in India ' s Ladak ' s Hemis High Altitude National Park , was the reward for 13 months of effort for Steve Winter , a photographer for National Geographic magazine . Snowstorm leopard ( Steve Winter / Wildlife Photographer of the Year ) Enlarge Image " I try to do stories that have never been done before , " he told BBC News . " They do involve an incredible amount of work with scientists and local people . We were lucky in this instance that we got incredible pictures . " It was collaboration between myself , the team and the snow leopard , " he joked . The project involved 14 remote cameras in roughly 45 locations . It was a case of trial and error - one camera only delivered a picture of half of a leopard in five - and - a - half months . Working in such harsh conditions , where temperatures plummeted to - 40 C ( - 40 F ) , he asked the manufacturers for their advice on the performance of the cameras in extreme temperatures . " They told me : ' We don ' t know , tell us when you get back '," he recalled . Commenting on the use of trigger cameras rather than being sat behind the lens , Mr Winter said : " They are something that needs to be used to get intimate portraits of elusive animals . " I used to hate these cameras because they just gave you a record of an animal . " Images are all about composition and light . If I cannot control that as if I would as I put the camera up to my face , then essentially I have failed . " So I asked myself that if I did not like these cameras , how can I like them more . " It turns out that snow leopards are the perfect species on which to use these cameras . They always come to specific locations to mark their territory . " So I viewed the locations as movie sets . I put the cameras there , I put the lights there . " I knew the animal would come ; it was just waiting for the actor to walk on stage and break the beam . " Canon EOS Rebel XT + 10 - 22 mm lens at 16 mm ; 1 / 200 sec at f 16 ; ISO 100 ; waterproof camera box + Plexiglass tubes for flashes ; Trailmaster 1550 - PS remote trigger THE SHOWThis photo showing a young male lion harassing a thirsty giraffe at a waterhole in Namibia has won this year ' s Young Photographer of the Year prize . The show ( Catriona Parfitt / Wildlife Photographer of the Year ) Enlarge Image It was taken by teenager Catriona Parfitt during a family safari holiday in 2007 . " When the giraffe first arrived , it was very nervous , " Catriona explained . " As it walked slowly towards the water , it kept looking over its shoulder towards the ridge where there was a pride of four lions . " She added that perhaps the young lion saw a solitary giraffe as too much of a temptation to leave alone , despite the risks . Competition judge Rosamund Kidman Cox called the image an astonishing shot : " Stage , action , story and onlookers combine to make an unforgettable scene . " Canon EOS 400 D + Canon EF 300 mm f 4 IS USM lens + Canon EF 1 . 4 extender ; 1 / 200 sec at f 5 . 6 ; ISO 100 TROUBLE - MAKERItalian Stefano Unterthiner ' s photo of a mischievous Sulawesi black - crested macaque won the competition ' s Animal Potraits category . Trouble - maker ( Stefano Unterthiner / Wildlife Photgrapher of the Year ) Enlarge Image The monkey earned his nickname " trouble - maker ", Stefano explained , because it was more interested in the photographer than being photographed . After spending weeks following the monkeys in the Indonesian island ' s Tangkoko National Park , Stefano found that their search for food took them to the coastal edge of the park ' s forest . While most of the primates were busy foraging among the rocks for fallen fruits and nuts , one young adult took an interest in Stefano ' s activities . " He would leap at me and kick off my back like a trampoline , " he recalled . " It was part play , part confrontation , part attention - seeking , part curiosity . " Nikon D 2 X + Nikon 12 - 24 mm lens ; 1 / 250 sec at f 10 ; ISO 125 ; graduated neutral - density filter ; flash DEADLOCKDavid Maitland ' s " deadlock " is this year ' s winner of the competition ' s Behaviour : Other Animals category . Deadlock ( David Maitland / Wildlife Photographer of the Year ) Enlarge Image He told BBC News that the photo was just a glimpse of a struggle between a tree - frog and cat - eyed tree - snake that lasted for hours through the night in the tropical forests of Belize . " The snake had failed to get its jaws around the whole of the frog ' s head , " he recalled . " It wouldn ' t let go , presumably because the frog would have leapt away . But it couldn ' t swallow it , either . " Neither of the creatures showed any sign of giving up in the three hours that David sat in a cramped position . " It was a complete stalemate , " he added . In the early hours , when the pair had moved beyond the focus of his lens , David decided to call it a night . When he returned in the following morning , there was no sign of the pair and no clue to which had finally broken the deadlock . Canon EOS - 1 Ds Mark II + 100 mm macro lens ; 1 / 500 sec at f 10 ; ISO 50 ; twin flashes CLASH OF EAGLESClash of eagles ( Antoni Kasprzak / Wildlife Photographer of the Year ) Enlarge ImageThe photo of a fight between two white - tailed eagles over the carcass of moose in the depths of a Polish winter secured the top prize in the Behaviour : Birds category for Antoni Kasprzak . To capture this image , Antoni found a carcass of a moose , which had been hit by a train , knowing that it would be ideal bait for his subjects . Five hours later , waiting in the sub - zero temperatures of the Polish winter , a struggle broke out between an adult male white - tailed eagle and a young male . Capturing the shot , Antoni knew the snowy backdrop would help make the photo an award winning image . Canon EOS 40 D + Canon EF 500 mm f 4 IS USM lens ; 1 / 1000 sec at f 4 . 5 ; ISO 500 ; tripod An exhibition of the best images from this year ' s competition opens to visitors of the Natural History Museum , London , on Friday , 31 October 2008 http : / / news . bbc . co . uk / 2 / hi / science / nature / 7696188 . stm