Pictured: Winning entries for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025

A brown hyena standing beside the ruins of an abandoned diamond mining settlement has earned wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year. He set up his camera trap after spotting fresh hyena tracks in the ghost town of Kolmanskop, Namibia. It took him ten years to get the shot, he said. The brown hyena, the rarest of all hyena species, is primarily nocturnal and tends to live a solitary life. For years, Mr van den Heever searched the deserted town, finding only traces of the elusive animal. “I knew they were there, but actually photographing one was just never going to happen,” he says he thought. He was awarded the prize at London’s Natural History Museum. The annual exhibition dedicated to the competition opens at the Natural History Museum on 17 October. Keep scrolling to explore the full collection of award-winning images.

Category: Junior Grand Prize and 15- to 17-year-old winner Title: After the Destruction Photographer: Andrea Dominizi, Italy Location: Lepini Mountains, Lazio, Italy While exploring the Lepini Mountains in central Italy, an area once logged for its old-growth beech trees, Andrea spotted a beetle resting on a cut log beside abandoned machinery. “This photo shows the story and challenge faced by many animal species: habitat loss,” he says. “In this case, it’s a beetle that loses the tree and the wood it needs to lay its eggs.”

Category: Animals in their Environment Title: Like an Eel out of Water Photographer: Shane Gross, Canada Location: D’Arros Island, Amirante, Seychelles After weeks of patience, last year’s winner , Shane Gross, captured peppered moray eels scavenging for carrion at low tide. He spent hours enduring the sun, heat, and flies, waiting where dead fish had washed up. Eventually, three eels appeared.

Category: 10 Years and Under category Title: The Weaver’s Lair Photographer: Jamie Smart, UK Location: Mid-Wales, UK On a cold September morning, Jamie Smart discovered an orb-weaver spider curled up inside its silken hideaway. “It’s also quite special for me because I get to show something that people are usually afraid of,” she says.

Category: Wetlands: The Bigger Picture Title: Vanishing Pond Photographer: Sebastian Frölich, Germany Location: Platzertal, Tyrol, Austria Sebastian Frölich visited Austria’s Platzertal moorlands, a fragile wetland, to highlight its vital role as a carbon sink and a habitat for diverse wildlife, at a time when Austria has lost 90% of its peat bogs.

Category: 11–14 Years Title: Alpine Dawn Photographer: Lubin Godin, France Location: Col de la Colombière, Haute-Savoie, France During an early ascent, Lubin Godin found an Alpine ibex resting above a sea of clouds. He retraced his steps as the sun broke through and captured the scene before the mist returned.

Category: Underwater Title: Survival Purse Photographer: Ralph Pace, USA Location: Monterey Bay, California, USA Battling strong currents, Ralph Pace captured this image of a swell shark egg case, revealing a glowing embryo, complete with gill slits and a yolk sac. Swell sharks depend on kelp to lay their leathery eggs, making them vulnerable to kelp forest loss. Researchers believe Monterey Bay’s kelp has declined by more than 95 per cent in the past 34 years.

Category: Animal Portraits Title: Shadow Hunter Photographer: Philipp Egger, Italy Location: Naturns, South Tyrol, Italy Philipp Egger observed this eagle owl’s nest from afar for more than four years. Among the world’s largest owls, eagle owls are about twice the weight of buzzards. These nocturnal hunters nest on cliffs or in crevices and often return to the same site for many years.

Category: Behaviour: Birds Title: Synchronised Fishing Photographer: Qingrong Yang, China Location: Yundang Lake, Fujian Province, China Qingrong Yang captured a ladyfish snatching prey just beneath a little egret’s beak. He often visits the lake to document these frenzied feeding moments.

Category: Behaviour: Mammals Title: Cat Amongst the Flamingos Photographer: Dennis Stogsdill, USA Location: Ndutu Lake, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania Caracals are known for their acrobatic leaps to catch birds, but sightings of them hunting flamingos are rare.

Category: Photojournalism Title: How to Save a Species Photographer: Jon A Juárez, Spain Location: Ol Pejeta, Nanyuki, Laikipia County, Kenya After years following the BioRescue Project, Jon A. Juárez witnessed a breakthrough in rhino conservation, the first successful transfer of a rhino embryo to a surrogate mother. Though the foetus of the southern white rhino, pictured here, did not survive due to infection, the milestone proved that IVF could work for rhinos, bringing scientists closer to saving the critically endangered northern white rhino. The BBC covered this incredible story and you can read about it here.

Category: Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles Title: Frolicking Frogs Photographer: Quentin Martinez, French Guiana Location: Kaw Mountain, French Guiana In heavy rain, Quentin Martinez followed a flooded path to a pool in a forest clearing and captured the metallic sheen of lesser tree frogs gathering to breed.

Category: Photojournalist Story Title: End of the Round-up Photographer: Javier Aznar González de Rueda, Spain Location: USA Across the US, Javier Aznar González de Rueda explored society’s conflicted views of rattlesnakes from deep respect to fear and persecution. See the other images in his winning portfolio here .

Category: Behaviour: Invertebrates Title: Mad Hatterpillar Photographer: Georgina Steytler, Australia Location: Torndirrup National Park, Western Australia Georgina Steytler showcased the gum-leaf skeletoniser caterpillar’s strange tower of discarded head capsules. Each moult leaves a capsule behind, forming a stack thought to confuse predators.

Category: Oceans: The Bigger Picture Title: The Feast Photographer: Audun Rikardsen, Norway Location: Kvænangen Fjord, Skjervøy, Norway During a polar night in Norway, Audun Rikardsen photographed gulls swarming around a fishing vessel, trying to catch fish trapped in nets. He aims to highlight the conflict between seabirds and the fishing industry. Many birds drown in purse seine nets each year.

Category: Plants and Fungi Title: Deadly Allure Photographer: Chien Lee, Malaysia Location: Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia Some carnivorous pitcher plants reflect UV light as part of their display, using colour, scent and nectar to lure prey. To illustrate this, Chien Lee used a long exposure and UV torch.

Category: Rising Star Title: Watchful Moments Photographer: Luca Lorenz, Germany Location: Germany While Luca Lorenz was photographing mute swans on an urban lake, a coypu photobombed his frame. See his other portfolio images here

Category: Natural Artistry Title: Caught in the Headlights Photographer: Simone Baumeister, Germany Location: Ibbenbüren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany On a city bridge, Simone Baumeister photographed an orb-weaver spider silhouetted against traffic lights. By reversing one of the six glass elements in her lens, she created the kaleidoscopic effect, framing the spider.

Category: Impact Award Winner 2025 & Highly Commended, Photojournalism Title: Orphan of the Road Photographer: Fernando Faciole, Brazil Location: CETAS (Centro de Triagem de Animais Silvestres), Belo Horizonte, Brazil At a rehabilitation centre in Brazil, Fernando Faciole photographed an orphaned giant anteater pup trailing its caregiver. His aim is to show the consequences of road collisions, a major threat to these animals.

Category: Portfolio Award Title: Visions of the North Photographer: Alexey Kharitonov, Israel/Russia Location: Russia A recently frozen lake in Svetlyachkovskoye Swamp reveals snow-dusted dark circles etched with crack-like veins. Using a drone, Alexey Kharitonov captures the rapid transition from summer to winter across taiga forests and Arctic tundra. See his other portfolio images here.

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