A rare photo of a hyena standing in front of an abandoned building in a former diamond mining town in Namibia has won the 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.
“Ghost Town Visitor,” photographed by South African photographer Wim van den Heever in the town of Kolmanskop, is the result of 10 years of research using camera trap technology, organizers said on Tuesday.
This photo, one of 60,636 entries, shows a brown hyena, one of the world’s rarest hyena species.
Nocturnal and primarily solitary brown hyenas are rarely seen, so van den Heever noticed their footprints in the area and started using camera traps.
Kathy Moran, chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year judging panel, said the image shows how wildlife can repopulate towns abandoned by humans.
“It’s very fitting that this photo was taken in a ghost town,” she said in a statement.
“Just looking at this image gives me a tingly feeling and I know I’m in this hyena’s territory.”
Juror Akanksha Sood Singh added: “This image is an eerie juxtaposition of wildness reclaiming human civilization.”
“This image is both haunting and captivating, as a lone hyena takes center stage as a symbol of resilience amidst decline,” she said.
Italian photographer Andrea Dominici won the 2025 Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, open to applicants aged 17 and under, for a photo of a longhorn beetle that appears to be inspecting an abandoned logging machine.
The photo, titled “After Destruction,” was taken by Dominici in the Lepini Mountains in central Italy, where old beech trees once grew.
Juror Andy Parkinson said Dominici’s photos were “compelling but harrowing photographs that challenge viewers to reflect on the fractious nature of this relationship.”
The organizers also highlighted the Impact Award, which was won by Brazilian photographer Fernando Faciore for his photograph of an orphaned giant anteater being chased by its human caregiver.
In addition, 19 category winners were selected by the jury. The images will be displayed in an exhibition opening at London’s Natural History Museum on Friday.
“Now in its 61st year, we are excited to continue the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award as a powerful platform for visual storytelling that shows the diversity, beauty and complexity of the natural world, and humanity’s relationship with it,” museum director Doug Garr said in a statement.
Editor’s note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series dedicated to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet and their solutions. Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative has partnered with CNN to promote awareness and education on key sustainability issues and inspire positive action.
