Three Cambridgeshire artists have been short-listed for an international art prize – and their work is being exhibited in a renowned gallery in London.

Martin Aveling, Dafila Scott and Paul Hawdon are all showing their work in the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibition at the Mall Galleries from June 30- July 4.

And they are all in the running for David Shepherd Wildlife Foundations’ Wildlife Artist of the Year prize which could bag them £10,000.

There are more than 150 works of art short-listed for this year’s competition – from established and exciting new artists – which will be on display and for sale in the main gallery to raise awareness and funds for critically endangered mammals in Africa and Asia supported by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF).

Dafila Scott, from Reach, who is one of short-listed artists, said: “It’s absolutely wonderful to be part of the David Shepherd exhibition. I really like the idea of supporting conservation. It’s wonderful to be doing something which is not only good fun but also helps conservation.”

The former zoologist, 62, said her short-listed painting of Crane on the Fen has a special significance.

“The crane is a really exciting thing,” she added. “They used to be in this country a long time ago, now there’s a population in Norfolk and it’s now spreading. And they’ve finally got to where I live. This is partly a celebration of seeing cranes for the first time in my home patch.”

Conservation is also high on the agenda for short-listed artist Martin Aveling, 32, from Sawston, who hopes his painting of a mountain gorilla will highlight their plight.

The 32-year-old grew up in former Central African state Ziare, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, where his parents worked as conservationists with mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park.

“It obviously has meaning for me,” he said. “There are less than 1,000 mountain gorillas left in the area. They are completely under threat from civil war and unrest. I wanted to encourage more people to see it and build up the pressure.”

Martin, who is a regular on the London wildlife art scene, said he was delighted to be short-listed.

“It’s quite an exhibition, it’s really spectacular,” he added. “The standard of the exhibition just goes up and up in my view. Art has always been my passion, I’ve been drawing ever since I could pick up a pencil.”

Meanwhile, painter and printmaker Paul Hawdon, from Cambridge, is also short-listed in the exhibition.

Wildlife artist and conservationist David Shepherd CBE, who launched the art competition in 2008 to raise funds and awareness for endangered wildlife, said: “The short-listed entries are once again exceptional.”

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