Renowned Hungarian photographer Bence Máté has taken first prize in the prestigious World Press Photo Nature category.
More than 4,700 photographers applied with nearly 80,000 photos. The jury consisted of 43 photographers from 25 countries.
The award-winning photo, Harvesting Frogs’ Legs, shows frogs with their legs severed and surrounded by frogspawn struggling to the surface.
Frogs’ legs are frequently harvested for food in the spring, when males and females gather to mate and spawn. Legs are sometimes severed while the animal is still living. A small part of the population in the Carpathian Mountains make their living by collecting frogs’ legs in the wild and selling them.
The Hungarian photographer has won many international nature photography awards in the past. In March, an outdoor exhibition was opened in Budapest introducing six hundred examples, followed by a national tour.
You can see Bence's and other pictures from the competition here.