The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 has announced its winners, and this year’s collection stands out for its raw storytelling and unmatched visual drama. Each photograph captures a fleeting moment that reminds us how extraordinary life is—whether on land, in the sky, or beneath the waves.
1 – Ghost Town Visitor by Wim van den Heever
Crowned the Adult Grand Title Winner 2025, Wim van den Heever’s Ghost Town Visitor freezes a hyena standing amid the ruins of a deserted house, cloaked in eerie mist. The image blurs the boundary between wilderness and human abandonment, showing nature’s quiet reclamation of forgotten spaces.
2 – After the Destruction by Andrea Dominizi
The Young Grand Title Winner 2025, Andrea Dominizi’s After the Destruction, presents a longhorn beetle dwarfed by towering logging machines. The diagonal composition pits fragility against force, highlighting the tension between industrial progress and the delicate pulse of life that survives beneath it.
3 – Skin and Bones by Amy Jones (UK)
Amy Jones’ Skin and Bones tells a story of pain and hope. Captured during the rescue of a frail tiger in northern Thailand, the photograph reflects both suffering and endurance. The tiger, leaning weakly against cold concrete, becomes a haunting symbol of resilience against cruelty.
4 – How to Save a Species by Jon A. Juárez (Spain)
Jon A. Juárez’s How to Save a Species documents the BioRescue Project’s mission to save the northern white rhino through groundbreaking IVF. His image, filled with quiet determination, immortalises the moment scientists achieved the first successful rhino embryo transfer—an emotional step in humanity’s effort to correct its past mistakes.
5 – Synchronised Fishing by Qingrong Yang (China)
Qingrong Yang’s Synchronised Fishing captures perfect timing at Yundang Lake as a ladyfish snatches prey just beneath a little egret’s beak. Years of observation culminated in this single breathtaking frame, where nature’s rhythm unfolds in split-second harmony.
6 – Like an Eel out of Water by Shane Gross
Canadian photographer Shane Gross reveals rare behaviour in Like an Eel out of Water. After weeks of patience, he photographed peppered moray eels scavenging at low tide. The image is both a technical marvel and a scientific record of how life adapts to the narrow zone between land and sea.
8 – Mad Hatterpillar by Georgina Steytler (Australia)
Georgina Steytler’s Mad Hatterpillar closes this year’s lineup with a touch of wonder. After years of searching, she found the gum-leaf skeletoniser caterpillar, crowned with its curious “hat” of cast-off heads. Her macro frame reveals whimsy in the wild, where even the smallest creatures display the artistry of evolution.
Celebrating Nature’s Stories
From eerie ghost towns to microscopic marvels, the 2025 edition of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year reminds us that the natural world is as fierce as it is fragile. Each image is a call to look closer, care deeper, and protect what remains untamed.
Follow Travel Moves on Instagram and Facebook for more captivating travel stories, nature discoveries, and breathtaking moments from around the globe.
