South African wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever was announced as the Natural History Museum London's Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 for his photograph of a hyena at an abandoned town in Namibia.

Titled "Ghost Town Visitor," the striking image shows the brown hyena standing amidst the rubble in the long-abandoned diamond mining town of Kolmanskop in Namibia as a damaged house looms in the background. The single shot, which took Heever a decade to get after first noticing their tracks at the site, was captured using camera trap technology, according to the museum.

The "rarest hyena species in the world," according to the museum, "brown hyenas are nocturnal and mostly solitary." The animal's population is estimated to be between 4,000 and 10,000 in the wild, and they are classified as Near Threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Brown hyenas primarily inhabit dry environments where food is scarce, and they tend to stay in small groups of up to six, per the museum.

"They are known to pass through Kolmanskop on their way to hunt Cape fur seal pups or scavenge for carrion washed ashore along the Namib Desert coast," the museum said, adding these animals are rarely spotted, "so camera trap technology is an effective way for scientists to monitor behavior and better understand the species."

In addition to being the overall winner of the contest, Heever's photograph also won the Urban Wildlife Category, "with the judges admiring how it gives an original twist to the interpretation of urban," the museum said, adding the judges also considered the image "to be a prime demonstration of the qualities needed to be a successful wildlife photographer – curiosity, patience and talent." They also admired Heever's persistence, considering he dedicated 10 years to getting this "extraordinary photograph."

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025

Andrea Dominizi was the competition’s Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025, becoming the first ever Italian to land the title. Dominizi won for his image of a longhorn beetle titled "After the Destruction." Framed against abandoned machinery, Dominizi's image shows the insect in the Lepini Mountains of central Italy, an area once logged for old beech trees.

"The picture tells two stories," the museum said about the winning image. "One is of impending natural destruction caused by human intervention, against which the smallest creatures stand no chance. The other is of hope and resilience, the composition cleverly making the insect appear as big as the machinery."

Marine biologist and underwater photographer Jennifer Hayes, who was one of the judges for this year’s competition, appreciated the image for doing "exactly what a strong photograph should do – it increases our understanding.”

Category winners of 61st Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition

The 19 category winners across the young and adult categories are:

  • 10 Years and Under – Jamie Smart, United Kingdom
  • 11 – 14 Years – Lubin Godin, France
  • 15 – 17 Years – Andrea Dominizi, Italy
  • Animals in their Environment – Shane Gross, Canada
  • Animal Portraits – Philipp Egger, Italy
  • Behavior: Birds – Qingrong Yang, China
  • Behavior: Mammals – Dennis Stogsdill, U.S.
  • Behavior: Amphibians and Reptiles – Quentin Martinez, France
  • Behavior: Invertebrates – Georgina Steytler, Australia
  • Oceans: The Bigger Picture – Audun Rickardsen, Norway
  • Plants and Fungi – Chien Lee, Malaysia
  • Natural Artistry – Simone Baumeister, Germany
  • Underwater – Ralph Pace, U.S.
  • Urban Wildlife – Wim van den Heever, South Africa
  • Wetlands: The Bigger Picture – Sebastian Frölich, Germany
  • Photojournalism – Jon A Juárez, Spain
  • Photojournalist Story Award – Javier Aznar González de Rueda, Spain
  • Rising Star Award – Luca Lorenz, Germany
  • Portfolio Award – Alexey Kharitonov, Israel/ Russia

See all winning photographs in the gallery above.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025

Now in its 61st year, the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" contest, presented by the Natural History Museum in London, spotlights "inspiring and powerful images" from the natural world.

The photos were selected from more than 60,000 entries anonymously by an international panel of expert judges across wildlife photography, filmmaking, science and conservation, based "on their creativity, originality and technical excellence," the museum said in an Aug. 27 news release.

The museum said entries were submitted by "some of the finest emerging young wildlife photographers, some as young as nine years old."

Striking images from the collection include "a dramatic stand-off between a lion and a cobra," photographed by Gabriella Comi at Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, "a portrait of an inquisitive pack of Arctic wolves" by Amit Eshel and an aerial photograph of a wild elephant scavenging through a large waste dump in Sri Lanka by Lakshitha Karunarathna.

The selected images will be showcased at an exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London from Oct. 17, 2025, to July 12, 2026, the news release said, noting it aims to "help visitors understand how our planet’s habitats are changing."

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Haunting image of hyena in ghost town wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025

Reporting by Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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