Ghost Town Visitor by Wim van den Heever. Winner of Urban Wildlife and Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025. A brown hyena among the skeletal remains of a long-abandoned diamond mining town. Location: Kolmanskop, near Lüderitz, Namibia. Technical details: Nikon D810 + 17–35mm f2.8 lens at 17mm; 15 at f2.8; ISO 3200; 2x Nikon SB-800 Speedlight flashes; Camtraptions motion sensor.
South African wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever has been announced as Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 for his powerful image, Ghost Town Visitor.
Capturing the unusual intersection between nature and abandoned urban spaces, Wim’s photograph is a haunting yet captivating image of a brown hyena wandering through the skeletal remains of Kolmanskop, Namibia’s long-deserted 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 tracks at the site.
The brown hyena, the world’s rarest hyena species, is nocturnal and largely solitary. These elusive creatures occasionally pass through Kolmanskop en route to hunt Cape fur seal pups or to scavenge for carrion along the Namib Desert coastline. Because sightings are so uncommon, camera traps have become an invaluable tool for researchers, allowing them to monitor behaviour and gain deeper insights into this seldom-seen species.
“How fitting that this photograph was made in a ghost town. You get a prickly feeling just looking at this image and you know that you’re in this hyena’s realm. I also love the twist on this interpretation of ‘urban’ – it was once but is no longer a human-dominated environment,” says Chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Jury Kathy Morgan.
“Abandoned by miners, wildlife has taken over. Repopulated, if you will. Is it still a town — it would seem that way to me — just no longer ours.”
Visions of the North by Alexey Kharitonov.
Winner, Portfolio Award
Alexey Kharitonov (Israel/Russia) finds art in unexpected perspectives across Russia’s northern swamps.
When ice-rich permafrost below ground thaws, it can create a striking thermokarst landscape where the ground sinks and forms large surface depressions. These depressions can develop into swampy bodies of water called thermokarst lakes – like this 30-metre-wide (100-foot) one Alexey discovered.
Technical details: DJI Mavic 2 Pro + Hasselblad L1D-20c 28mm f2.8 lens; 1/30 at f2.8 (-0.7 e/v); ISO 320
The Feast by Audun Rikardsen
Winner, Oceans: The Bigger Picture
Audun Rikardsen (Norway) witnesses feeding time around an Atlantic fishing vessel during a polar night in northern Norway.
Audun managed to photograph this chaotic scene of gulls attempting to catch fish trapped by nets. The gulls have learnt to follow the sound of the boats to find a herring feast. Through his work, Audun aims to draw attention to the ongoing conflict between seabirds and the fishing industry.
Unfortunately, many birds drown in or around these purse seine nets each year. Various fisheries and researchers are trialling solutions, including sinking the nets more quickly to make them less accessible to the birds.
Location: Kvænangen Fjord, Skjervøy, Norway
Technical details: Canon EOS R5 + 15–35mm f2.8 lens at 15mm; 1/200 at f4.5; ISO 10000; Canon Speedlite 600EX II flash; LED torch 
Cat Amongst the Flamingos by Dennis Stogsdill
Winner, Behaviour: Mammals
Dennis Stogsdill (USA) witnesses a caracal hunting a lesser flamingo in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.
Dennis had been keeping an eye out for wild cats such as servals for several days when a call came over the radio: one had been seen at Ndutu Lake. But it wasn’t a serval. It was a caracal, successfully hunting wading lesser flamingos.
Caracals have a varied diet, from insects to antelope, and are renowned for the acrobatic leaps they make to snatch birds from the air. But there are few, if any, records of them hunting flamingos.
Location: Ndutu Lake, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Technical details: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II + 600mm f4 lens; 1/1600 at f5.6; ISO 2500 
Orphan of the Road by Fernando Faciole
Highly Commended, Photojournalism
Impact Award Winner 2025
Fernando Faciole (Brazil) watches an orphaned giant anteater pup follow its caregiver after an evening feed at a rehabilitation centre.
Fernando wanted to highlight the consequences of road collisions, a leading cause of the decline in giant anteater numbers in Brazil. This pup’s mother was killed by a vehicle, and the hope is that it will be released back into the wild after being encouraged to develop crucial survival skills by its caregiver.
Alongside rehabilitation centres, the Anteaters and Highways project of the Wild Animal Conservation Institute is developing strategies to reduce anteater deaths on Brazil’s roads. These include erecting fences and building underground tunnels to allow the anteaters to cross safely.
Location: Centro de Triagem de Animais Silvestres (CETAS), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Technical details: Nikon D850 + 24–70mm f2.8 lens at 28mm; 0.8 at f22; ISO 31; Nikon Speedlight flash with Greica CT-16 transmitter/receiver 
Watchful Moments by Luca Lorenz
Winner, Rising Star Award
Luca had been watching a tree hole where this Eurasian pygmy owl and its mate were nesting. When one disappeared, the other continued feeding the chicks. On this day, the remaining bird returned clutching the chicks’ breakfast in its claws, and called for its mate, but there was no reply.
Technical details: Nikon Z8 + 180–600mm f5.6–6.3 lens at 600mm; 1/125 at f6.3; ISO 2500 
Like an Eel out of Water by Shane Gross
Winner, Animals in their Environment
Shane Gross (Canada) witnesses a peppered moray eel very much in its element hunting for carrion at low tide.
It took Shane numerous attempts over several weeks to document this rarely photographed behaviour. At first the eels were elusive, but once Shane realised that they were scavenging for dead fish, he waited. His patience was soon rewarded when these three eels appeared.
Peppered moray eels are well adapted to the intertidal zone. They can hunt both above and below the water’s surface using their keen senses of smell and sight, sometimes staying out of water for more than 30 seconds.
Location: D’Arros Island, Amirante, Seychelles
Technical details: Nikon Z6 + 24–70mm lens at 24mm; 1/250 at f5.6; ISO 2500; Godox AD400 Pro flash with 24-inch diffuser; light stand 
Synchronised Fishing by Qingrong Yang
Winner, Behaviour: Birds
Qingrong Yang (China) perfects photographic timing to show a ladyfish snatching its prey from right under this little egret’s beak.
Qingrong was at Yundang Lake near his home, a place he visits regularly to photograph the feeding frenzies: little egrets patrol the surface, ready to pounce on fish leaping to escape underwater predators.
Once a natural marine harbour, Yundang Lake was sealed off from the sea during 1970s development. Isolated from the tides and currents, it became polluted and stagnant. An engineering project later reconnected it to the sea via a system of gates that regulate water flow.
Location: Yundang Lake, Fujian Province, China
Technical details: Nikon Z9 + 400mm f2.8 lens; 1/2500 at f5; ISO 110
All of the winners were announced today during an awards ceremony at the Natural History Museum in the U.K. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.
An exhibition of Wildlife Photographer of the Year will start on October 17. Information can be found here.