Full Breakdown
Haunting Beauty: Wim van den Heever Wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025
10/17/2025, 12:01:22 PM
Overview of the Competition
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, organized by the Natural History Museum in London, announced its 2025 winners, showcasing a remarkable collection of wildlife photography from around the globe. This year, the contest received a record-breaking 60,636 entries from 113 countries and territories.
Grand Prize Winner: Wim van den Heever
South African photographer Wim van den Heever earned the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 for his striking image, "Ghost Town Visitor." The photograph features a rare brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea) prowling through the eerie ruins of Kolmanskop, an abandoned diamond mining town in Namibia. Van den Heever dedicated nearly a decade to capturing this moment, utilizing camera traps after first noticing hyena tracks in the area.
The haunting image, described as an "eerie juxtaposition of the wild reclaiming human civilization," highlights the resilience of nature in spaces once dominated by humans. Kathy Moran, chair of the competition's jury, remarked on the fitting context of the photograph, emphasizing how wildlife has repopulated the ghost town abandoned by miners.
Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Italian photographer Andrea Dominizi won the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year title for his poignant image "After the Destruction." This photograph captures a longhorn beetle (Morimus asper) perched on abandoned logging machinery in the Lepini Mountains of central Italy, symbolizing the impact of deforestation on ecosystems. The image serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of species and the consequences of habitat loss.
Notable Category Winners
The competition also recognized several category winners, including:
- Animals in their Environment: Shane Gross (Canada) for "Like an Eel out of Water," depicting peppered moray eels scavenging for dead fish at low tide in the Seychelles.
- Photojournalism: Javier Aznar González de Rueda (Spain) for a series exploring the relationship between humans and rattlesnakes in the U.S.
- Impact Award: Fernando Faciole (Brazil) for "Orphan of the Road," showcasing an orphaned giant anteater pup following its caregiver after its mother was killed by a vehicle.
Exhibition and Future Implications
The winning photographs will be displayed in an exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, opening on October 17, 2025, and running until July 2026. The exhibition aims to inspire appreciation for wildlife and raise awareness about the environmental challenges facing our planet.
Dr. Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, emphasized the competition's role in visual storytelling, showcasing the beauty and complexity of the natural world while highlighting humanity's relationship with it. The exhibition will also include the Biodiversity Intactness Index, a tool for monitoring biodiversity changes globally.
Conclusion
Wim van den Heever's "Ghost Town Visitor" not only captures a moment of haunting beauty but also serves as a powerful reminder of the resilience of nature in the face of human impact. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition continues to be a vital platform for raising awareness about wildlife conservation and the intricate connections within ecosystems.
