Lucca Amorim, Persistent Joy (Animal 2020)

Millions of animals have sadly lost their lives in Australia's bushfire crisis. One of the species hardest his in these fires are Flying-foxes. Fortunately, some colonies are still strong, healthy and joyful. The first photo shows an adult male soaring through the trees in search of a branch on which to land. The second is a portrait of a female Flying-fox as she stretches and gets ready for sleep. The last photo is a bat swooping in on a freshwater river to cool off. Flying-foxes usually do so to avoid dehydration and enjoy themselves.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.