Eye for The Wild sweeps Calgary this spring
Bella Coco, News Editor & Aiden Johner, Photo Editor |
On Dec. 13, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 3 to be World Wildlife Day. More than 10 years later, Calgary Wildlife honours World Wildlife Day with Eye for The Wild: a local wildlife photo competition that takes place throughout March and April.
Calgary Wildlife has been working as the only wildlife veterinary hospital in the city of Calgary since 1993. Working alongside Calgarians, Calgary Wildlife is dedicated to conservation efforts and the rehabilitation of over 400 animal species.
To further promote conservation and awareness of Calgary’s wildlife and ecosystems, Calgary Wildlife implemented Eye for The Wild.
What is Eye for The Wild?
Eye for The Wild 2025 is Calgary Wildlife’s seventh annual amateur photo competition. The photo competition runs from March 3 to April 15 and allows photographers from around Alberta to send in photos for a donation of $15.
All of the proceeds go directly toward the rehabilitation and release of injured and orphaned wildlife in Alberta. This allows all of the participants to play a part in helping the health of the local environment.
Prizes are provided for contestants who land in first, second and third place, as well as a public choice award. These prizes range from being highlighted in the Calgary Wildlife newsletter, included in social media posts, and a feature in the Calgary Wildlife 2026 calendar. Photos of any Alberta wildlife may be submitted, as long as they are not domestic animals, such as dogs, cats, or zoo animals.
Beki Hunt, the executive director of Calgary Wildlife, says that since she joined the team, the Eye for The Wild photo entries have grown over the years, and so has wildlife awareness around the city.
“The bits about more and more animals ending up on COSWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) list, as endangered or threatened, is definitely…really important,” says Hunt. [It] raise[s] awareness about [the] conservation status of animals that are becoming more and more endangered.”
Eye for The Wild also aims to provide wildlife awareness to the competitors by implementing these National Geographic photography guidelines:
- Do no harm
- Do not destroy or alter habitat for a better view or scene.
- Let animals go about their business. Do not seek their attention or interaction.
- Take special care at breeding season.
- Know the signs of stress of your subject species.
- Keep it wild
- Do not feed the wildlife.
- Avoid habituating wild animals to humans’ presence.
- Follow the laws
- Laws vary by location and species.
- Laws vary depending on the purpose and method of photography.
- Caption with honesty
- Be transparent about how a photograph was made.
- Reputation is everything
- Word travels fast in the wildlife photography community, and fakery or harmful field practices can be readily exposed. These days, it’s not just editors and other photographers that are on the lookout; increasingly, viewers on social media are too, speaking up when things appear suspect.
Hunt explains that during 2024’s Eye for The Wild competition, a judge helped bring these rules to attention.
“Not all photographers are super ethical in their practices and can do things like baiting—[when] you put food out to have a bird, a raptor, fly towards you or disrupting wildlife in their natural habitat, which obviously is not okay,” Hunt says. “For us, really making sure that participants are being really mindful of that and not disrupting wildlife in their wild spaces and capturing those photos without disturbing them.”
Eye for a winner
With an interest in the outdoors and nature, Jamie Bussey has been pursuing photography for the last 12 years. After teaching himself the ins and outs of wildlife photography, Eye for The Wild fell onto Bussey’s radar in 2023.
“I follow all the local wildlife rehabilitation centres, and I try to donate to them regularly,” Bussey says.
When he saw that the admission fees for the Eye of The Wild photo contest go directly toward the efforts made by the rehabilitation centre, he loved the idea and knew he had to participate.
“I know where my money is going, it’s staying local, it’s going to a good cause,” says Bussey.
And when it comes to getting the shot, Bussey goes all in. He says that he has travelled through Jasper, the Yukon, and even the U.S. with up to 50 pounds of gear.
Bussey explains that in the warmer months, there is a lot of daylight so he finds himself waking up anywhere from 4 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. and heading out to Kananaskis or Banff. He typically works until 11 a.m. and then finds somewhere to take a nap—whether that be in his car, the trees, or on some rocks. Afterward, he works through the rest of the evening and heads home around 10 p.m. just to repeat the routine the next day.
After submitting his photo entry of a porcupine, Bussey felt confident but was caught off guard by an Instagram direct message announcing his Eye for The Wild win.
“I knew the photo I submitted was strong. You never know if something is going to win a competition,” Bussey says. “You don’t know what the judges are looking for.”
“It just felt good in my heart. It’s sometimes really hard to separate emotional attachment to what is a really good image because you have so much memory surrounding that entire experience.”
Bussey’s advice for anyone participating in Eye for The Wild is simple yet effective: finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.
“If you have a regular everyday animal, you need an extraordinary moment or behaviour to make it stand out. Or if you have a rare animal, almost any photo of a rare animal looks amazing,” Bussey explains.
Those interested in submitting photo entries can head to the Calgary Wildlife website and register for Eye for The Wild until April 15.
