The Natural History Museum in London has announced the winners of the 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, with South African photographer Wim van den Heever taking the prestigious Grand Title Award. His haunting image of a brown hyena exploring an abandoned diamond mining town represents a decade of dedicated pursuit to capture one of the world’s rarest carnivores[5].
A Decade in the Making
Van den Heever’s winning photograph, titled “Ghost Town Visitor,” shows a solitary brown hyena wandering through the skeletal remains of Kolmanskop, Namibia—a long-abandoned diamond mining town slowly being reclaimed by desert sands[1][5]. The image required camera trap technology and years of patience to capture, as brown hyenas are nocturnal and predominantly solitary creatures[5].
“How fitting that this photograph was made in a ghost town,” said Kathy Moran, Chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Jury. “You get a prickly feeling just looking at this image, and you know that you’re in this hyena’s realm”[5].
Record-Breaking Participation
The 2025 competition saw unprecedented engagement from the global photography community, with a record-breaking 60,636 entries submitted from 113 countries and territories[5][7]. This represents the 61st year of what has become the world’s premier showcase for nature photography[7].
An international panel of wildlife experts, photographers, and scientists evaluated each submission based on creativity and technical skill, ultimately selecting 100 powerful images for the exhibition[7].
Young Talent Recognized
Italian photographer Andrea Dominizi earned the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year title for his compelling image “After The Destruction,” which documents habitat loss and environmental degradation[5]. The award highlights the next generation of conservation-focused photographers using their craft to draw attention to ecological challenges.
Stories of Wildlife Under Pressure
The exhibition features numerous photographs that tell urgent stories about biodiversity and conservation. Lakshitha Karunarathna spent three years documenting elephants scavenging through garbage dumps in Sri Lanka, with his drone footage capturing the tragic reality of plastic pollution—twenty elephants died at a single site in Ampara after ingesting indigestible wrappers[7].
Other notable entries include Jassen Todorov’s aerial perspective of San Francisco’s salt ponds being restored to wetlands, transforming 6,000 hectares of industrial flats back into thriving natural habitats[7]. Isaac Szabo captured an intimate underwater scene of longnose gar courtship in Florida’s crystal-clear rivers, while Kesshav Vikram’s patience in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula paid off with a brown bear strolling along Kurile Lake against the backdrop of the Iliinsky volcano[7].
Exhibition Details
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition opens to the public on Friday, October 17, 2025, at the Natural History Museum in London[1]. The showcase pairs striking wildlife artistry with scientific data, including the museum’s Biodiversity Intactness Index, helping visitors understand and advocate for endangered ecosystems[7].
The exhibition represents more than just beautiful photography—it serves as a visual documentation of Earth’s biodiversity at a critical moment, when many species and habitats face unprecedented threats from human activity and climate change.
Sources
[2] https://news.sky.com/story/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-see-2025s-winning-snaps-13449468