Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards finalists 2019: Funniest animal photos of the year

  • Red squirrel with dandelion seeds. Photo: Geert Weggen
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  • Oh My! Unlike most other marine mammals, sea otters have no blubber and rely on exceptionally thick fur to keep warm. As the ability of the fur to repel water depends on utmost cleanliness, sea otters spend much of their time (while they are not sleeping or eating) grooming, offering photographers an unlimited number of anthropomorphic opportunities. Photo: Harry M. Walker
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  • Laid Back. On the last day in Gombe Stream National Park, magic happened when a family group of a dozen chimps came down from the trees into a clearing.  Photo: Thomas D. Mangelsen
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  • What are you looking for. Japanese Macaque at Jigokudani Monkey Park.  Photo: Pablo Daniel Fernandez
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  • Hello. Early mornings are a great time to find damselflies warming up on summer days. I found this individual on the yellow iris flower, as it warmed up it would stretch it's legs giving me the opportunity to capture this image of it seemingly waving at me. Photo: Kevin Sawford
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  • Deer - What Deer? Shooting the Red Deer rut in Richmond Park, I noticed this deer covered in bracken. It's not unusual for them to adorn themselves with bracken and grass, but this one's taken it to extremes. Photo: Mike Rowe
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  • Bad hair day. It's hard to find a good hair gel for penguins. You put in all the work to look like Justin Beiber and then a strong wind wrecks your hairdo and makes you look like a fool.  Photo: Eric Keller
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  • One, two, three, four, five ... I'm going to find you ....  Photo: Valtteri Mulkahainen
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  • Monday Morning Blues. In Alaska this past summer, we were watching brown bears catching salmon out of a small river. This young juvenile had a very successful morning and walked over next to us and plopped down with a full stomach. Over the next 10 minutes he went through a hilarious range of emotions - from hiding his face from the light of day and completely passing out, to giving us a "diva" look and his overall face of satisfaction. This particular photo is exactly what I look like on a Monday morning. Photo: Eric Fisher
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  • Family disagreement. Two birds during courtship before nesting.  Photo: Vlado Pirsa
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  • To be or not to be.  Photo: Txema Garcia Laseca
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  • Lion take away.  Photo: Willem Kruger
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  • Lost. Once again, Cecil forgot the map! The caracaras and capybaras have a friendly relationship. Photo: Susan Knowler
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  • Warning! Territory Marking, follow at your own risk. Photo: TilakRaJ'NagaRaJ
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  • Space Man. "I've got a space suit and a helmet and one day I'll fly the moon! but only when it's Banana shaped". This sweet little Japanese Snow Monkey ran around after he had rolled in the snow. Photo: Roie Galitz
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  • Grab life by the .....  Photo: Sarah Skinner
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  • He's right behind me, isn't he? Photo: Anthony Petrovich
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  • "That's Hilarious Steve." Photo: Lloyd Durham
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  • Indecent proposal? Photo: Co Grift
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  • Hi. These Alaskan sea otters are saying 'Hi' to us as we pass by on our boat.  Photo: Donna Bourdon
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  • Is it a bird, is it a plane? I had imagined this photograph for some time but could I be lucky enough to capture the exact moment when the plane is obscured by the bird to give the appearance of a jet-propelled gull? I was lucky enough! Photo: Bob Carter
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The finalists have been announced for this year's Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards.

Tussling foxes, a waving otter, a laughing seal and a chilling baby chimpanzee are among the 40 finalists for the annual competition.

Competition founder Paul Joynson-Hicks said each year, the competition gets tougher. Last year an image of a shocked squirrel walked off with the top prize.

"Every year we do this competition, it gets more and more exciting to see how people visualise the funny sides of wildlife in the wild," he said in a statement. 

But it wasn't just about animals doing funny things, the competition aimed to highlight the importance of conservation. 

"Our planet is in distress, we all know that, now we just need to know what to do."

It's hoped the competition will lend a helping hand to those eager to get involved in wildlife conservation. Organisers of the competition suggested shopping responsibly, restricting water use at home, and becoming a 'wild influencer'. 

Organisers said the overall winner and category winners would be announced on November 13. 

Take a look at some of the highlights in the gallery above or check out all of the finalists here. 

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Entries for next year's competition can be sent to www.comedywildlifephoto.com.

Stuff.co.nz

See also: The world's funniest places to visit

See also: 'Knifey-spooney': The Simpsons' 10 funniest travel moments

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