The Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards celebrate the beauty, intricacy, and interconnectedness of nature, and this year’s winning images are no exception. Announced Tuesday at a ceremony at the Natural History Museum, London, the 19 top shots were chosen from a record-breaking 60,636 entries from 113 countries and territories.
Wim van den Heever from South Africa took the overall prize for his “haunting” — and suited to the spooky season — shot of a rare hyena in the abandoned diamond mining town of Kolmanskop, Namibia. The winning image, titled “Ghost Town Visitor,” was a decade in the making: Van den Heever set up camera traps 10 years ago after first noticing brown hyena tracks in the area.
Nocturnal and largely solitary, brown hyenas are the rarest hyena species in the world, and they’re known to pass through the ghost town on their route to hunt Cape seals and scavenge for carrion along the Namib Desert coast.
“This image is an eerie juxtaposition of the wild reclaiming human civilization,” contest jury member Akanksha Sood Singh said in a press release. “The image is haunting yet mesmerizing because the solitary hyena takes center stage as a symbol of resilience amid the decay. This picture is a multi-layered story of loss, resilience, and the natural world’s silent triumph, making it an unforgettable piece of wildlife and conservation photography.”
Also named at the ceremony was the 2025 Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, a title awarded to shutterbugs ages 17 and under. The honor went to Italian resident Andrea Dominizi, who wowed judges with his poignant shot of a longhorn beetle in the country’s Lepini Mountains, where beech tree logging once took place.
Per the release, “As longhorn beetles tunnel into dead wood, fungi make their way inside, helping to break it down and recycle nutrients. If the beetles’ habitat is disturbed or destroyed, the effects ripple across the entire ecosystem.”
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London, where the winning photographs will be on display Oct. 17 through July 12, 2026. Alongside the images, visitors will have access to the museum’s “groundbreaking” Biodiversity Intactness Index, which measures how much of a region’s natural biodiversity remains on a scale of zero to 100%.
“Now in its 61st year, we are thrilled to continue Wildlife Photographer of the Year as a powerful platform for visual storytelling, showing the diversity, beauty, and complexity of the natural world and humanity’s relationship to it,” Museum Director Doug Gurr said. “With the inclusion of our Biodiversity Intactness Index, this year’s exhibition will be our best combination of great artistry and groundbreaking science yet, helping visitors to become inspired to be advocates for our planet.”
Scroll to see a selection of the winning images in the 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards.
“The Weaver’s Lair” by Jamie Smart, U.K., Winner — 10 Years and Under
“Alpine Dawn” by Lubin Godin, France, Winner — 11–14 Years
“Shadow Hunter” by Philipp Egger, Italy, Winner — Animal Portraits
“Synchronized Fishing” by Qingrong Yang, China, Winner — Behavior: Bird
“Frolicking Frogs” by Quentin Martinez, France, Winner — Behavior: Amphibians and Reptile
“Mad Hatterpillar” by Georgina Steytler, Australia, Winner — Behavior: Invertebrates
“The Feast” by Audun Rikardsen, Norway, Winner — Oceans: The Bigger Picture
“Deadly Allure” by Chien Lee, Malaysia, Winner — Plants and Fungi
“Caught in the Headlights” by Simone Baumeister, Germany, Winner — Natural Artistry
“Survival Purse” by Ralph Pace, U.S., Winner — Underwater
“Vanishing Pond” by Sebastian Frölich, Germany, Winner — Wetlands: The Bigger Picture
“Seal Serenity” by Luca Lorenz, Germany, Winner — Rising Star Award
“Piece of Sky” by Alexey Kharitonov, Israel/Russia, Winner — Portfolio Award
RELATED: NASA Announces Winners of Photographer of the Year Awards: See the Pics
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