No way José!

 

 

Which one of these pictures is the odd one out? The middle one and I'll tell you why in a minute.

Every year, for the past few years, I've marvelled at the skill, patience and imagination of the photographers chosen (out of 43,000 entries this year) for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.

So I stood open-mouthed half-way round the exhibition at the Natural History Museum yesterday. Not because a shot had floored me with its brilliance. But because there was a blank space where the overall winning photo should have been (the middle of the three above called The Storybook Wolf). With words saying the winning photographer José Luis Rodriguez has been disqualified because he was found to have used a model wolf. No way José!

After announcing The Storybook Wolf as the winner of the 2009 Wildlife photographer competition, it has had pride of place since the exhibition opened in October. Three months later, the judges decided this week that it is "very likely the wolf is a model". By that, they mean a trained wolf from a zoo as the BBC explain here.

Suspicion fell on the Spanish photographer late last year when wolf experts concluded that a wild wolf wouldn't jump a fence. It would squeeze through the gate's bars instead.

Rodriguez has been banned from the competition for life and presumably has had to hand his £10,000 prize money back. This is certainly the most dramatic event in the competition's 46 year history.

The question is, why on earth has this only come to light half way through the exhibition's run? Calendars, mugs, postcards have all been printed. It's so odd. Something very strange has gone on methinks.