Italian Teen Wins Youth Section of Wildlife Photographer of the Year for Captivating Beetle Image

London: A 17-year-old Italian photographer has been awarded the youth section of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award for an impactful photograph capturing a beetle’s interaction with deforestation machinery in the Lepine Mountains, south of Rome. The winning shot by Andrea Dominizi highlights a beetle of the Morimus asper species, showcasing its role in recycling dead wood amidst the backdrop of logging machinery. The image is noted for its play on perspective, emphasizing the beetle’s ecological contribution in comparison to its physical size.

According to Ansa News Agency, this remarkable photograph was taken in the Monti Lepini near Latina in Lazio and is among the winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 competition. This prestigious competition, now in its 61st year, is organized annually by the Natural History Museum in London. Visitors can view Dominizi’s photograph along with other selected images from the record 61,000 entries submitted this year at an exhibition open from October 17.

This year’s overall winner is South African photographer Wim van den Heever, whose photograph features a rare brown hyena in Kolmanskop, Namibia. The image, which took van den Heever ten years to capture, was praised for embodying the essential qualities of a successful nature photographer: curiosity, patience, talent, and perseverance.

Other notable award-winning photographs include an almost pitch-black image by Italian photographer Philipp Egger, highlighting an eagle owl’s eyes. In the bird category, Qingrong Yang from China captured a little egret’s synchronized hunting scene. Canadian photographer Shane Gross was recognized in the “Animals in their Environment” category for documenting a moray eel’s adaptability as it emerged from the water to hunt.

Additional distinguished photographs feature a caracal hunting a flamingo in Tanzania by American Dennis Stogsdill, a gathering of tree frogs in a vibrant image by Frenchman Quentin Martinez, an Australian caterpillar’s unique headdress captured by Georgina Steytler, and a Norwegian depiction of seagulls coexisting with the fishing industry by Audun Rikardsen.