Stunning highly commended images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition

Each of the photos highly commended in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition could be a freeze-frame from some mini drama.

In one shot , a lioness peers over the edge of a rock and faces down a cobra; in another, a sloth hugs the post of a barbed wire fence as if their life depends on it; in another, a lone elephant wades through piles of multicolored rubbish at a waste disposal site.

The Natural History Museum in London, which organizes the annual photography competition , said it received a record-breaking 60,636 entries from photographers around the world this year.

Judges will whittle these down to the 100 images that will feature in the museum’s exhibition before announcing the category winners as well as the Grand Title and Young Grand Title awards