Award-winning photo highlights perils of life on the prairie

"Yikes!" - that's the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the award-winning photo by China's Bao Yongqing, who took a shot of a marmot jumping in fright as a Tibetan fox sneaked up behind it.

Don't get me wrong; the photo is worth every pixel that helped Bao make the headlines last week as Wildlife Photographer of the Year, one of the world's top photography accolades.

Dubbed The Moment, the winning entry was taken on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The marmot, spooked by its crouching predator, dons an anthropomorphic look that, to me, is the screaming expression of alarm that goes well with daily life in a harsh, wild environment.