Being a judge for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition must be one of the best and worst jobs in the world; you get to spend your time looking at the most amazing photographs of the natural world, but then have the unenviable task of having to pick a winner for each category. So to make it easier on the selectors, the public are now being asked to decide the winner of the LUMIX People's Choice Award from a shortlist of 25 images.

Selected from over 48,000 entries, taken by photographers from 100 different countries, the shortlisted images are currently on display as part of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. Members of the public are able to vote for their favorite by visiting this link, and have until February 4, 2020, to do so.

Developed and run by the Natural History Museum, the competition is now in its 55th year, making it one of the oldest and most prestigious photography competitions in the world. 

Among the images on the shortlist is this photograph of a pair of playful polar bear cubs and their mother, taken by Steve Levi in Canada's Wapusk National Park and titled 'Tender Play'.

^{© Steve Levi / Wildlife Photographer of the Year}

This image, titled 'Matching Outfits', was taken by Michel Zoghzoghi and shows a mother jaguar and her cub preparing to feed on an anaconda in the Pantanal in Brazil.

^{© Michel Zoghzoghi / Wildlife Photographer of the Year}

'Station Squabble', captured by Sam Rowley, shows a pair of mice fighting over food dropped by passengers on a platform at a London Tube station.

^{© Sam Rowley / Wildlife Photographer of the Year}

Claudio Contreras Koob's entry, titled 'Beak to Beak', shows a flamingo feeding its newly born chick in the Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve in Yucatan, Mexico.

^{© Claudio Contreras Koob / Wildlife Photographer of the Year}

Things take a more depressing turn with Aaron Gekoski's image, 'Losing the Fight', which draws attention to the abuse that many animals suffer at the hands of humans, such as this orangutan that is forced to perform for the amusement of tourists in Bangkok.

^{© Aaron Gekoski / Wildlife Photographer of the Year}

Yet thankfully, there are those who continue to work for the benefit of animals, such as Elias Mugambi, who is pictured taking care of an orphaned black rhino called Kitui at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in northern Kenya. Taken by Martin Buzora, the image is called 'The Surrogate Mother'.

^{© Martin Buzora / Wildlife Photographer of the Year}

To check out the rest of the images on the shortlist, and to vote for your favorite, head over to the Natural History Museum's website.