Photo that took 10 years to capture wins Wildlife Photographer of Year 2025 award

Wim van der Heever has won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 award for a picture that he says took him 10 years to capture.

Heever captured a brown hyena standing beside the ruins of an abandoned diamond mining facility in the ghost town of Kolmanskop, Namibia.

An award ceremony was held at London’s Natural History Museum to honor the photographers.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025, Heever, revealed that he found traces of hyenas in a deserted town and set up his camera there, adding, “I searched the area and found only traces of the elusive animal.”

Brown hyenas are the rarest hyena species and they tend to live a solitary life often away from any kind of human interaction.

Heever said, “I knew they were there, but actually photographing one was just never going to happen,” yet he eventually succeeded in his quest.

The winners from other categories are as follows:

Photographer Andrea Dominizi from Italy won the Junior Grand Prize for a picture titled “After the Destruction”. It was taken at Lepini Mountains, Lazio, Italy.

Photographer Jamie Smart from the UK won the 10 Years and Under Category award for a picture titled “The Weaver’s Lair”. It was captured in Mid-Wales.

Photographer Sebastian Frolich from Germany won the “Wetlands: The Bigger Picture” category award for a photo titled "Vanishing Pond", captured at Platzertal, Tyrol, Austria.