South African photographer wins 'International Wildlife Photographer of the year'
A decade of patience, persistence, and passion has paid off for Pretoria-based wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever, who has claimed the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award for his haunting image captured in Namibia’s ghost town of Kolmanskop.
The competition, hosted annually by the Natural History Museum in London, is considered the Oscars of wildlife photography, drawing close to 60,000 entries from over 90 countries each year.
Van den Heever’s photograph, titled “Ghost Town Visitor,” not only topped the Urban Wildlife category but also earned the overall Grand Title – a remarkable feat in the world of wildlife photography.
The award-winning image depicts a rare brown hyena moving through the eerie, sand-filled ruins of Kolmanskop, a once-thriving diamond mining town now reclaimed by the desert. Van den Heever spent 10 years returning to the site, setting up camera traps, and mapping possible routes the elusive nocturnal animal might take.
His years of meticulous preparation finally paid off one misty night when a lone hyena passed through, and immortalising the shot he had envisioned for over a decade.
Van den Heever described the achievement as a dream realised, saying the image turned out exactly as he had imagined from the beginning.
For him, the recognition not only celebrates his work but also draws attention to one of Africa’s most elusive species.
The brown hyena, found mainly in southern Africa, is one of the world’s rarest hyenas, with only an estimated 4,000 to 10,000 left in the wild.
Its adaptability and survival in Namibia’s harsh desert landscapes underscore the delicate balance of nature and human history captured in the photo.
Van den Heever accepted the award in London earlier this month, calling it “an absolute dream come true” and “an honour to stand on top, even for a small window in time.”
IOL Travel