The rare and wonderful

The latest Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners have been revealed. Jessica Miller takes a closer look at the successful images

- Jessica Miller

Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) is always a huge highlight in the photographic calendar. Developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London, the prestigious competition always attracts the very best of the year's wildlife photography, and of course 2025 is no different. Striving to inspire a love for the natural world, generate public interest in conservation and enhance the prestige of wildlife photography, Wildlife Photographer of the Year is presented through an exhibition of incredible images of animals, their environments and the important photojournalism stories.

Now in its 61st year, entry records continue to be broken, with 60,363 entries from across 113 countries and territories submitted. The 19 category winners, and Grand Title and Young Grand Title awards, were announced at a ceremony hosted by TV presenters and conservationists Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin.

South African wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever has been announced as the overall winner with his ghostly image of a rare brown hyena in a deserted diamond mining town.

Now on at Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 61 exhibition is on show until 12th July 2026, and will show a selection of 100 photographs – including the winners we share here.

There's still time to enter next year's competition! Entries are open for the 62nd Wildlife Photographer of the Year now until 11.30am on 4 December 2025. Photographers aged 26 and under can enter for free. Visit nhm.ac.uk/wpy/competition for more information.

Now, let's look at the winners...

Ghost Town Visitor by Wim van den Heever, South Africa Winner, Urban Wildlife, and Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025

Nikon D810, 17-35mm at 17mm, 15sec at f/2.8, ISO 3200, 2x Nikon SB-800 Speedlight flashes, Camtraptions motion sensor