Overall Winner: "Still Life in Oil"
Brown pelicans oiled by the 2010 Gulf spill huddle in the winning picture of the 2011 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
Spanish photographer Daniel Beltrá captured the scene at a temporary bird-rescue facility in Fort Jackson, Louisiana. The picture "made art out of disaster," judge Mark Carwardine, a zoologist and photographer, said in a statement.
(See "Oil-Coated Gulf Birds Better Off Dead?")
The competition, now in its 47th year, is an "international showcase for the very best nature photography," according to the website for the contest, which is run by London's Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine.
Each year, an international jury of photographers judges tens of thousands of entries in 17 categories.
(See the best wild-animal pictures of 2009, as designated by the Veolia jury.)
Pictures: Best Wild Animal Photos of 2011 Announced
Sparring cocks and a curious fox feature in some of the year's best wild-animal pictures, according to the results of a U.K.-based contest.
