BBC's nature photo competition judge admits: Winner photo investigated due to fraud allegations

José Luis Rodríguez: The storybook wolf

”I know what your're talking about. It is being investigated”, Kidman Cox confirms.

The photographer has given the impression that the picture represents a wild wolf. Now, however, the competition organisation has received evidence indicating that the wolf would actually be a tame one and lives in captivity. The pieces of evidence are under investigation as we speak.

The rules of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) competition are very clear: ”Images of captive animals must be declared. The judges will take preference to images taken in free and wild conditions.” So: a wolf photo representing a wild wolf has better chances to win than a wolf photo with a captive animal in it.

The panel of judges selected the winner from among 43,000 photos. Suomen Luonto magazine has tried to reach the head of the panel, Mark Carwardine, for an interview via e-mail and by phone, but have had no reply.

”I'm just a judge in the competition”, Kidman Cox says. ”But you'll find Mark (Carwardine) is not going to say anything different than me. Because we're just waiting for a piece of evidence”, she continues.

About a possible official statement that the WPY organisation will make about the situation, Kidman Cox answers: ”I think... I'm hoping that there will be a statement that the competition will make, but it's not my decision.”

In addition to being one of the judges, Kidman Cox is the former editor of BBC Wildlife Magazine, the other one of the WPY head organisers.

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The winner photo this year, titled Storybook wolf was taken by Spanish José Luis Rodríguez.

Concerning the alleged fraud, Suomen Luonto magazine recently received part of the evidence that the WPY organisation is now investigating. (Example below.)

The evidence includes photo comparisons between the winner photo and a tame wolf named Ossian. Also included is a comparison between the contest winner photo and a photo that is claimed to be taken in the Cañada Real Center zoological park near Madrid. The views are strikingly similar. (Below).

Kidman Cox is aware of the material, too.

”But until one bit of evidence can be verified I don't think it's possible to accuse the photographer of cheating. It's not 100 percent”, Kidman Cox states.

The pieces of evidence are apparently collected by a group of Spanish photographers. They are conserned about the reputation of all Spanish photographers and, thus, want to bring the evidence in public.

”I hope the truth will come out finally”, one of the photographers says to Suomen Luonto magazine, ”there are many of us (Spanish nature photographers) who have strong ethics.”

We asked for comments about the accusations from José Luis Rodríguez himself, via e-mail, both in English and in Spanish, but received no reply.

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Well, is it the wolf from the zoological park in the winner picture, then, or not?

To clarify things Suomen Luonto showed the comparison photos to an internationally merited wolf researcher Ilpo Kojola from the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute. Kojola has a long history in field study of wolves.

"Yes, it seems to be the same wolf in the pictures”, Kojola says. ”For example the dark, scar-like sign under the right eye seems to be a unique mark of this individual.” (See below, the other one of the red lines pointing at the scar. The lines were in the original document received by Suomen Luonto magazine.)

Kojola, however, finds one clear difference between the wolves: "The wolf in the winning picture has beautiful flawless ears, whereas Ossian wolf seems to have a visible mark in its right ear.” (See the circle below, that was added on the document by Suomen Luonto).”

Kidman Cox admits that the WPY organization is pondering over the same detail: ”Yes, I know about the ear.”

She presents one possible explanation for the difference: "The wolf has had a fight. And so the ear looks different.”

"It sounds like a plausible explanation that the ear has been damaged in a fight", says wolf researcher Kojola.

One thing in the behaviour of the wolf makes Kojola very suspicious: "Why is the wolf jumping high over the fence? It's behaving like a trained animal. It's definitely not natural behaviour in this kind of situation where the animal obviously could sneak between the crossbars."

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The WPY is the world's most respected and largest nature photo competition. The winner gets a huge merit for life. The competition celebrated its 45th anniversary this year.

If the cheating would be true, it would undoubtedly be one of the most significant cases of fraud in the history of nature photographing – if not the most significant.

But: the case is not closed yet – and it will not be until the WPY organisation stands out and makes the final statement about the subject. The rumours of the photo have been going wild for too long already.

The competition is owned by BBC Wildlife Magazine and Natural History Museum of London. It carries the name of the main sponsor. This year the sponsor was Veolia Environnement.

Juha Kauppinen
journalist
Suomen Luonto magazine

Suomen Luonto (”Nature of Finland”) is the largest nature magazine in Finland with over 100 000 readers. The magazine was established in 1941 and appears ten times per year.