IT is a haunting image – the world’s rarest hyena stalks through the mist as night falls on an abandoned diamond mine. Little wonder that it has won a double award in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

Aptly titled Ghost Town Visitor, photographer Wim van den Heever captured the rare sighting at the abandoned settlement of Kolmanskop in Namibia after a remarkable ten years of trying to get the shot he wanted.

“I knew they were there, but actually photographing one was just never going to happen,” he admits he thought. The brown hyena, the rarest of all hyena species, is primarily nocturnal and tends to live a solitary life.

The photograph has won Wim, pictured above, both the overall Adult Grand Title and Urban Wildlife Category in the prestigious awards, which were presented at London’s Natural History Museum.

“Abandoned by miners, wildlife has taken over. Repopulated, if you will,” said Kathy Moran, Photo Editor and Chair of the Jury. “Is it still a town? It would seem that way to me – just no longer ours.”

Meanwhile, the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award went to Andrea Dominizi, who titled an image of a longhorn beetle After The Destruction.

“In a frame diagonally split in half, the beetle stands fully focused in the bottom left corner while logging machinery looms in the top right,” said the judges. “The picture tells two stories.

“One is of impending natural destruction caused by human intervention, against which the smallest creatures stand no chance. The other is of hope and resilience, the composition cleverly making the insect appear as big as the machinery.”

The top 100 images submitted for the renowned competition, and the stories behind them, will now go on show at the Natural History Museum from October 17, 2025 to July 12, 2026.

Adult off-peak tickets are from £15.50, and there’s a range of guided tours and relaxed viewing sessions too. The images can also be viewed online at the National History Museum website.