The wonders of the animal kingdom are coming to Geelong's National Wool Museum courtesy of a huge exhibition of nature photography. Headed to the venue this season, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year showcase comes direct from London's Natural History Museum, which has run the prestigious competition since 1965. Since then, the event has grown into one of the most important photographic events in the world, giving photographers a global platform to share their outstanding work — and giving us regular folk a peek behind the curtain (or lens) of mother nature at work.

Highlighting the astonishing sights that the natural world has to offer, this year's contest attracted nearly 50,000 entries from 92 countries. From that huge number, 100 winning pics were chosen for their creativity, originality and technical excellence, and then tour internationally. The works of several Australian photographers are included in the showcase — including Mud-Rolling Mud-Dauber by Georgina Steytler, which won in the 'Behaviour: Invertebrates' category. You can see the eye-popping, awe-inducing shots during its Geelong stop from Friday, March 22 through till Sunday, July 14.

Prepare to rove your eyes over everything from up-close-and-personal shots of gorgeous creatures to astonishing visions of sweeping landscapes. It'll be open every day of the week during its season — from 9.30am–5pm, Monday through Friday and 10am–5pm on weekends.

Images: Emmanuel Rondeau, Valter Bernadeschi, Georgina Steytler, Isak Pretorius, Skye Meaker, Arshdeep Singh and Adrian Bliss, courtesy of Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the Natural History Museum, London.