In previous years, the competition was only open to Otago residents and the record for entry numbers was under 5000.
But this year, organisers opened it up to photographers across the country with a new national pop-up category — Wild Aotearoa.
Museum exhibitions manager and competition judge Shanaya Cunningham said submissions for the 2026 competition had now closed and the number of entries has almost doubled, to "an impressive" 9372 photographs.
Of those, 5717 entries came from photographers outside Otago, highlighting the strong national appetite for wildlife photography and conservation storytelling.
She said the response to the new national category had been "overwhelming".
"People from around the country have been asking for years if they could take part.
"Seeing over half of all submissions coming from outside Otago really highlights the level of interest.
"Otago photographers will still be strongly represented in the competition and exhibition, but it’s been refreshing to see different styles, subjects and species from across the country."
The competition has been delivered in collaboration with the Department of Conservation (Doc), alongside key conservation and tourism partners, including the Otago Peninsula Eco Restoration Alliance (Opera), Dunedin’s Royal Albatross Centre and the Wild Dunedin New Zealand Festival of Nature.
Museum marketing manager Charlie Buchan said the competition played an important role beyond photography alone.
It helped showcase the importance of New Zealand’s wildlife while amplifying the reach of this year’s competition.
"As the wildlife capital of New Zealand, Dunedin has an opportunity to front-foot a major wildlife photography competition — one that brings people into the city, encourages them to experience our wildlife offerings and showcases Dunedin as much as the museum itself."
Judging will now take place over the next two weeks and finalists will be announced on February 18.
The finalists’ entries will appear in an exhibition, scheduled to open in early April, in time to coincide with the Wild Dunedin New Zealand Festival of Nature.
The winning photographs will then be announced later this year and featured in another public exhibition at Tūhura Otago Museum.
