We will announce the winners of this year’s photo competition tonight. In the meantime, I thought you would enjoy a slide show highlighting the 46 finalists of the nearly 8,500 photos we received.

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Any of these photographs is strong enough to have been a contender. And we like to thank all the photographers who showed their support for wildlife and wild places by entering our photo contest. We’d also like to thank those of you who took the time to vote for your favorite photos. Choosing the winners is a difficult task, and we greatly appreciate your help making the decision. Without your support, we could not have done the contest!

I am sure that most of you would have chosen a different group of 10 finalists than we did. That is part of the fun of showing you the top 46. Share with us in the comments what photos you would have picked.

And keep an eye out for the winners to be announced here soon.

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