A brown hyena roaming through a deserted mining town and a beetle perched in a forest witnessing its destruction have emerged as the winners of this year’s prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. The Natural History Museum in London, the longstanding host of the event for 61 years, unveiled the two grand prize winners and 19 category winners on Wednesday.
Wim van den Heever, a wildlife photographer from South Africa, clinched the Wildlife Photographer of the Year title with his captivating image titled “Ghost Town Visitor.” The photo depicts a brown hyena amidst the remains of an abandoned diamond mining town in Kolmanskop, Namibia, as it journeys towards the coast of the Namib Desert to prey on cape fur seal pups. Van den Heever’s decade-long pursuit of capturing this elusive moment finally materialized, having first encountered tracks of the rare hyena species in Kolmanskop years ago.
Meanwhile, Andrea Dominizi from Italy secured the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year title with his poignant photograph “After the Destruction,” showcasing a longhorn beetle perched on a mossy log overlooking remnants of a logging operation in central Italy’s Lepini Mountains.
Shane Gross, a photographer from Nanaimo, B.C., and last year’s grand title winner, stood out as the sole Canadian category winner in 2025 with his striking photo “Like an Eel out of Water.” Gross captured this image while documenting the ecological changes on D’Arros Island in the Seychelles archipelago, a newly established marine protected area. His exploration focused on documenting the restoration efforts, wildlife diversity, and the intricate interdependencies among various species within the protected ecosystem.
Gross’s photograph features peppered moray eels, showcasing their unique behavior of scavenging for fish along the shoreline. His aim was to shed light on lesser-known marine species and emphasize the importance of preserving entire ecosystems within marine protected areas. The winning images, selected from over 60,000 submissions, will be part of an upcoming exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London and will later be displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto from November 8, 2025, to March 29, 2026.