2011 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition

Entries for the 2011 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is about to open, so get your cameras out and get ye to the wild. Full details and rules will be released by the Natural History Museum and the BBC Wildlife on the 12th January 2011 to coincide with the opening of the competition for entries.

With less than 3 more months left of the 2010 exhibition, closing on the 11th March 2011, there's still time to get in there for some inspiration and to check out the current winners.

There will be the usual Young Awards, including under 10s, 11-14 years and 15-17 years, as well as a series of adult awards with a wide range of themes to enter for. The 2010 exhibition included the categories, Behaviour: Birds, Behaviour: Mammals, Behaviour: All Other Animals, The Underwater World, Animal Portraits, in Praise of Plants, Urban Wildlife, Wild Places, Animals in their Environment, Nature in Black and White and Creative Visions of Nature.

The 2009 Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition winner was disqualified, as it was discovered that a trained wolf had been used to create the image, so if you're planning on sticking a rubber trunk on your Great Dane and training it to jump a farm gate, entitling it Elephant Circus, don't. You probably won't get away with it.