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

  • Red squirrel with dandelion seeds. Photo: Geert Weggen
    of
  • 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
    of
  • 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
    of
  • What are you looking for. Japanese Macaque at Jigokudani Monkey Park.  Photo: Pablo Daniel Fernandez
    of
  • 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
    of
  • 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
    of
  • 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
    of
  • One, two, three, four, five ... I'm going to find you ....  Photo: Valtteri Mulkahainen
    of
  • 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
    of
  • Family disagreement. Two birds during courtship before nesting.  Photo: Vlado Pirsa
    of
  • To be or not to be.  Photo: Txema Garcia Laseca
    of
  • Lion take away.  Photo: Willem Kruger
    of
  • Lost. Once again, Cecil forgot the map! The caracaras and capybaras have a friendly relationship. Photo: Susan Knowler
    of
  • Warning! Territory Marking, follow at your own risk. Photo: TilakRaJ'NagaRaJ
    of
  • 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
    of
  • Grab life by the .....  Photo: Sarah Skinner
    of
  • He's right behind me, isn't he? Photo: Anthony Petrovich
    of
  • "That's Hilarious Steve." Photo: Lloyd Durham
    of
  • Indecent proposal? Photo: Co Grift
    of
  • Hi. These Alaskan sea otters are saying 'Hi' to us as we pass by on our boat.  Photo: Donna Bourdon
    of
  • 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
    of

  • You may also like these photo galleries

    Designs for Blue Sky Estate, a floating island in the Caribbean with room for 15,000 residents.

    Giant floating island offers tax-free, 'five star' haven to wealthy

    Jamala Lodge: The most expensive rooms are the five Jungle Bungalows adjoining enclosures with lions, tigers, cheetahs ...

    The Aussie hotel where you sleep (and bathe) with wild animals

    Crown's undoubted showstopper is its lavish infinity pool.

    Letters: Hey, Crown Sydney guests, we can see you

    Samphire Rottnest

    The Australian island that's now a world-class destination

    Georgia's 'flying coffins': Would you be game enough to ride?

    Georgia's creepy 'flying coffins': Braving the five minute flight of blind faith

    The PS Emmylou cruising along the Murray River near Echuca-Moama.

    A 700-km epic journey along Australia's longest river

Advertisement

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. 

Advertisement

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

Traveller

Comments