The haunting 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year image captures a sloth clinging desperately to a barbed wire fence — the closest substitute it could find for a tree.

Titled “No Place Like Home”, the photograph by French photographer Emmanuel Tardy was taken in Costa Rica’s Alajuela Province. It shows a brown-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus) hugging a fence post after slowly crossing a busy road. Likely mistaking the post for a tree in its fragmented habitat, the sloth embodies the silent struggle many animals face as forests shrink and landscapes fracture.

Tardy waited for passing vehicles and curious onlookers to disperse before capturing this raw, intimate moment — a quiet but powerful reminder of the cost of human expansion.

The image highlights a growing conservation crisis: habitat fragmentation. Once renowned for its lush, connected forests, Costa Rica now faces the challenge of reconnecting ecosystems. Conservation groups and local authorities are actively working to build wildlife corridors that allow animals like sloths, monkeys, and other arboreal species to move safely without venturing onto dangerous roads.

Chosen from over 60,000 global entries, this photograph stands out not just for its emotional weight, but as a visual call to action: to safeguard the fragile ecosystems that countless species call home.

📸 Source: Natural History Museum – Wildlife Photographer of the Year

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