A brown hyena standing beside the ruins of an abandoned diamond mining settlement has earned wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
He set up his camera trap after spotting fresh hyena tracks in the ghost town of Kolmanskop, Namibia. It took him ten years to get the shot, he said.
The brown hyena, the rarest of all hyena species, is primarily nocturnal and tends to live a solitary life. For years, Mr van den Heever searched the deserted town, finding only traces of the elusive animal.
“I knew they were there, but actually photographing one was just never going to happen,” he says he thought.
He was awarded the prize at London’s Natural History Museum.
The annual exhibition dedicated to the competition opens at the Natural History Museum on 17 October.
Keep scrolling to explore the full collection of award-winning images.