South African wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever has been announced Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 For his strong image, Ghost Town Visitors,
Capturing the unusual interplay between nature and abandoned urban spaces, Wim’s photograph is a haunting but captivating image of a gray hyena wandering among the skeletal remains of Kolmanskop, Namibia’s long-abandoned diamond mining town. The shot was taken with a camera trap and is the result of a decade-long effort that began when Van den Heever first discovered the animal’s footprints at the site.
The brown hyena, the world’s rarest hyena species, is nocturnal and largely solitary. These elusive creatures occasionally pass through Kolmanskop to hunt Cape fur seal pups or search for carrion along the coastline of the Namib Desert. Because sightings are so unusual, camera traps have become an invaluable tool for researchers, allowing them to monitor behavior and gain deeper information about this rarely seen species.
“How appropriate that this photo was taken in a haunted town. You get a prickling feeling when you look at this image and you know you are in this wooded realm. I also love this change in interpretation of ‘urban’ – it was once but is no longer a human-dominated environment,” says Cathy Morgan, chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year jury.
“Abandoned by the miners, taken over by wildlife. It can be repopulated if you like. Is it still a town – it would seem so to me – just not ours anymore.”
Winner, Portfolio Award
Alexey Kharitonov (Israel/Russia) finds art in unexpected perspective in the northern swamps of Russia.
When the ice-rich permafrost beneath the ground melts, it can create an amazing thermokarst landscape, where the ground collapses and large craters form on the surface. These craters can develop into marshy bodies of water called thermokarst lakes – such as this 30-metre-wide (100-foot) lake that Alexey discovered.
Technical Specifications: DJI Mavic 2 Pro + Hasselblad L1D-20c 28mm f2.8 lens; 1/30 at f2.8 (-0.7 e/v); iso 320
Winner, Ocean: The Big Picture
Audun Rikardsson (Norway) observed feeding around an Atlantic fishing vessel during a polar night in northern Norway.
Audun managed to photograph this chaotic scene of gulls trying to catch fish trapped in nets. The Gulls have learned to follow the sounds of boats to find herring feasts. Through his work, Audun aims to draw attention to the ongoing conflict between sea birds and the fishing industry.
Unfortunately, many birds drown in or near these purse seine nets every year. Various fisheries and researchers are testing solutions, including sinking nets more quickly to make them less accessible to birds.
Location: Kvanangen Fjord, Skjervøy, Norway
Technical Specifications: Canon EOS R5 + 15–35mm f2.8 lens at 15mm; 1/200 at f4.5; ISO 10000; Canon Speedlite 600EX II flash; led torch
Winner, Behavior: Mammals
Dennis Stogsdill (USA) observed a caracal hunting a lesser flamingo in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.
Dennis had been tracking feral serval-like cats for several days, when a call came over the radio: one had been seen at Lake Ndutu. But this was no servant. It was a caracal, which successfully hunted smaller flamingos.
The caracal’s diet is diverse, ranging from insects to antelope, and they are famous for their acrobatic leaps to snatch birds out of the air. But there are very few, if any, records of them hunting flamingos.
Location: Lake Ndutu, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Technical Specifications: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II + 600mm f4 lens; 1/1600 at f5.6; iso 2500
Highly Acclaimed, Photojournalism
Impact Award Winner 2025
Fernando Fassiol (Brazil) watches an orphaned giant anteater pup follow its caretaker after its evening meal at a rehabilitation center.
Fernando wanted to highlight the consequences of road collisions, which are a major cause of the decline in giant ants in Brazil. This puppy’s mother was killed by a vehicle, and it is hoped it will be released back into the wild after being encouraged by its caretaker to develop vital survival skills.
Along with rehabilitation centers, the Wild Animal Conservation Institute’s Anteaters and Highways project is developing strategies to reduce anteater deaths on Brazilian roads. These include erecting fencing and building underground tunnels to allow ants to cross safely.
Location: Centro de Trijem de Animales Silvestres (CETAS), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Technical Specifications: Nikon D850 + 24-70mm f2.8 lens at 28mm; 0.8 at f22; ISO 31; Nikon Speedlite Flash with Greka CT-16 Transmitter/Receiver
Winner, Rising Star Award
Luca was looking at a hole in a tree where this Eurasian pygmy owl and its mate were nesting. When one disappeared, the other continued to feed the chicks. On this day, the remaining bird returned with the chicks’ breakfast in its talons and called out to its companion, but received no answer.
Technical Specifications: Nikon Z8 + 180–600mm f5.6–6.3 lens at 600mm; 1/125 at f6.3; iso 2500
Conqueror, animals in their environment
Shane Gross (Canada) observed a peppered moray eel hunting for carrion at low tide.
It took Shane several attempts over several weeks to document this rarely photographed behavior. At first the fish were elusive, but when Shen realized he was looking for dead fish, he waited. His patience soon ran out when these three eels appeared.
Peppered moray eels are well adapted to the intertidal zone. They can hunt both above and below the surface of the water using their acute senses of smell and vision, sometimes remaining out of the water for more than 30 seconds.
Location: D’Aros Island, Amirante, Seychelles
Technical Specifications: Nikon Z6 + 24-70mm Lens 24mm; 1/250 at f5.6; ISO 2500; Godox AD400 Pro Flash with 24-inch diffuser; light stand
Winner, Behavior: Bird
Qianrong Yang (China) has improved the photographic timing to show a ladyfish snatching its prey from just below the beak of this little heron.
Qingrong was at Yundang Lake near his home, where he regularly goes to photograph feeding frenzies: Little herons patrol the surface, ready to pounce on fish that leap to escape underwater predators.
Yundang Lake, once a natural sea harbour, was closed off from the sea during development in the 1970s. Isolated by tides and currents, it became polluted and stagnant. An engineering project later reconnected it to the sea through a system of gates that controlled water flow.
Location: Yundang Lake, Fujian Province, China
Technical Specifications: Nikon Z9 + 400mm f2.8 lens; 1/2500 at f5; ISO 110
All the winners were announced today during an awards ceremony at the UK Natural History Museum. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.
The exhibition of Wildlife Photographer of the Year will start on 17th October. information can be found Here,
