24 Finalists Of Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

That funny time of the year has arrived—and it’s not even Halloween yet.

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards has revealed the shortlisted images and videos from its 2023 competition, “all hilarious and sure to raise a cackle or a chuckle and wonder at the wonderful wildlife we share this world with.”

This year’s final shortlist of standalone photographs, videos and portfolio entries presenting a wonderfully eclectic mix of hilarious wildlife includes a kangaroo rocking the air guitar, dancing horses, an avian family dispute and an owl suffering the “Monday Blues.”

These images have been culled from thousands of entries submitted by professional and amateur photographers to this popular competition from around the world.

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The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, which also organizes the Comedy Pet Photography Awards, was co-founded in 2015 by professional photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam. They wanted to create a competition focused on the lighter, humorous side of wildlife photography as a way to promote wildlife conservation.

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Each year, the competition supports a sustainable conservation organization and this year chose the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), a UK charity that supports conservation leaders working in their home countries across the global south.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, this charity has channeled £20 million to more than 200 conservationists in 80 countries.

The Comedy Wildlife photo awards also offers the public the chance to vote for their favorite funny photo here and enter a free drawing to win £500 offered by the competition sponsor, Affinity Photo.

The Overall Winner, Category and Highly Commended Winners will be announced on November 23, with the top image earning a one-week safari with AlexWalker’s Serian in the Masai Mara, Kenya, as well as a unique handmade trophy from the Art Garage in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

At Alaska’s Katmai National Park, grizzly bears are abundant and thus a photographers’ paradise. The challenge here is clicking a unique frame.

This image full of expression and proper eye contact by both bears is a perfect frame of love and friendship. “To get this image, I laid down flat on the water and stayed there for a long time waiting for the right moment to click,” said Thomas Viajayan.

This great gray owl spent most of the afternoon in America’s Grand Teton National Park posing majestically and looking, well, wise, recalled John Blumenkamp. But for a moment or two after doing some elegant stretching, it would slump and give a look that said, “Is Monday over yet?”

Three King Penguins emerge from the water at Islas Malvinas seemingly holding hands—er, wings.

This trip to the Seychelles was Danielle Goonan’s first big endeavor after getting scuba certified. She caught this Bat Fish on one of her dives.

A territorial avocet wasn’t happy about this Egyptian goose arriving early to place a towel on its sunbed. Fortunately, the avocet apparently was a master in the art of kung fu.

While Dakota Vaccaro was working deep in the Virginian woods, a family of grey foxes took up residence under the deck of the abandoned cottage next to her location.

“One day while practicing their hunting skills on bits of moss and branches, one of the kits lunged at a small chunk of wood and started rolling around with his prize,” she recalled. “Tired after his hunt, the kit lounged on his belly still holding the wood in his mouth, which gave the strong resemblance of a cigar.”

An Atlantic puffin does an inverted Snoopy impression while watching jellyfish off the Farne Islands in Great Britain’s Northumberland.

These two Wild Mustang stallions show off their athletic abilities while fighting each other in Wyoming’s McCullagh Peaks. No horses were hurt doing the tango.

This picture was taken in the monkey forest in Ubud, Bali, where monkeys are king. Sometimes they give a show; sometimes, they climb on you searching for fleas or stealing your cookie.

A white grouse makes its way through winter in Spitzberg, Norway.

A dragonfly enjoys sunrise from a horsetail surrounded by dew.

Jason Moore was driving past a mob of Western Grey Kangaroos in Perth, Australia, feeding in an open field adorned by yellow flowers. Stopping to shoot, he saw this guy seeming to strum on his air guitar.

On Alaska’s Barter Islands, a polar bear cub found this log kind of intriguing when it suddenly stood up, using it almost like a performer does.

A Sulawesi macaque turns to his local leaf to catch up on the news.

Two great horned owlets were having it out in Tierra Verde in west-central Florida.

Mama owl had briefly left the palm-tree nest to get some rest from these hyperactive soon-to-be fledglings, according to Mark Schocken. Although they were having fun, in this photo, it looks like a scolding between brothers is in process.

You have to applaud this leopard’s effort impressive if futile effort to go airborne in the Masai Mara.

Actually, she is displaying her temper as she is being bothered by three young cheetahs.

“I was in the jungle (at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India) when a Macaque came out of the jungle and started scratching its armpit keeping its hand straight at the same time,” said Pratick Mondal. “A deer appeared behind at that moment.”

An unusual and almost miserable end to a perfect moment arrived for this Striated heron, which had been preparing for a successful fishing expedition in South Africa’s Zimanga Private Game Reserve.

The swamp turtle is surprised and smiling when a dragonfly lands on its nose in Israel’s Jezreel Valley.

This snowy owl landed outside Vince Maiden’s house in Creemore, Canada, as he was watching a movie. He grabbed his camera to capture its moment of contentment.

This image is part of a charming collection of photographs capturing a quartet of mischievous ground squirrels in Vienna, of all places, each engaging in their own hilarious antics as they attempt to nibble on a colorful assortment of flowers.

From the surprised expressions of the caught-in-the-act culprits to the determined munchers and the territorial nibblers, these candid moments offer a delightful glimpse into the playful and sometimes competitive world of these furry floral aficionados.

It’s paw-to-paw action as a pair of “pretty-faced wallabies” cautiously approach each other for some fun on the beach. The image is part of a portfolio taken in Cape Hillsborough, Australia.

All standalone photographs, videos and portfolio entries here.