Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners revealed

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year has been revealed – and this year’s overall winner spent a decade attempting to get the shot.

South African wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever took home the accolade for his image ‘Ghost Town Visitor’.

Captured in a long-abandoned diamond mining town in Kolmanskop, Namibia, van den Heever used camera trap technology to take the striking snap of a brown hyena.

The rarest hyena species in the world, brown hyenas are nocturnal and mostly solitary, meaning they are very rarely seen.

Kathy Moran, Chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Jury, says: “How fitting that this photograph was made in a ghost town. You get a prickly feeling just looking at this image and you know that you’re in this hyena’s realm. I also love the twist on this interpretation of ‘urban’ – it was once but is no longer a human-dominated environment. Abandoned by miners, wildlife has taken over. Repopulated, if you will. Is it still a town – it would seem that way to me – just no longer ours.”

The shot was selected from 60,636 entries from 113 countries and territories.

Andrea Dominizi was named the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year for his image ‘After the Destruction’, which speaks to the problem of habitat loss.

Showing a longhorn beetle framed against abandoned machinery, the photograph was taken in the Lepini Mountains of central Italy, an area once logged for old beech trees.

For the second year, the competition also issued an Impact Award which recognises a conservation success, a story of hope or positive change.

Brazilian photographer Fernando Faciole won for the image ‘Orphan of the Road’ which shows an orphaned giant anteater pup following its caregiver after an evening feed at a rehabilitation centre.

The pup’s mother was killed by a vehicle, and Faciole is highlighting the consequences of road collisions, a leading cause of the decline in giant anteater numbers in Brazil.

Alongside these main awards, there are 19 category winners.

All the winning shots, as well as the full 100 images selected for the competition’s 61st portfolio, will go on display at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London this Friday 17 October until 12 July 2026.

Here, we have all of the category and main award-winning images for those who want a preview of the exhibition ahead of the opening.

More information: nhm.ac.uk