Man's abuse of the planet's biological resources is vividly illustrated by this image, one of 143 pictures featured in the BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the Natural History Museum, London.

Winner of the category entitled ‘The World in Our Hands’, this powerful image depicts a slaughtered family of lowland gorillas in Cameroon. The photographer, Karl Ammann, explains that the gorillas were cornered, chased up trees by trained dogs and then shot down. By persuading the hunters to arrange their spoils at the foot of a tree he was able to record the senseless killing. The hunters would probably receive just £30 for the adults. And the babies? Local children would be given them to play with and eat.

The exhibition runs in London until 27 February 2000, with travelling exhibitions touring Britain until February 2001 and an international tour visiting countries including Australia, Germany and the United States. It features a selection of the best photographs in 15 categories, ranging from ‘The Underwater World’ to ‘Urban and Garden Wildlife’. The overall winner, ‘Leopard with Rising Moon’ by Jamie Thom, shows a leopard resting at dusk, gazing lazily into the camera.