Wildlife photography is often known for its dramatic scenes and powerful moments, but sometimes nature is simply funny. The 2025 Comedy Wildlife Photography People’s Choice Awards celebrate the lighter side of the animal world, highlighting perfectly timed shots that show animals being clumsy, expressive, and surprisingly relatable.
This year’s selected photos feel almost human. A bird proudly carrying more nesting material than it can handle, frogs posing in a way that looks straight out of a stage play, and an elephant peeking around a tree as if caught mid-game. These moments remind us that the natural world is not only beautiful but full of humor waiting to be noticed.
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#1 “Headlock” By Warren Price, UK
These guillemots were nesting on a small rocky cliff ledge where space was at a premium. The nests all crammed in close together which isn’t a good recipe for being good neighbours, as guillemots are fiercely territorial.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
The heart of this competition is its mix of fun and awareness. The images make us laugh right away, yet they also help people connect more deeply with wildlife. By showing animals in these charming, unexpected ways, the awards inspire empathy and encourage viewers to care about conservation in a simple, accessible way. Scroll down to enjoy the funniest moments captured in the wild this year.
#2 “Smile, You’re Being Photographed.” By Valtteri Mulkahainen, Finland
When I was photographing bears, this one year old bear cub saw it and started smiling at me. Apparently he had already had to pose in front of photographers.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#3 “Outdoor Smoking Zone” By Lars Beygang, Germany
During the spring months, I was commissioned to photograph the urban wildlife of a city near my hometown in Bavaria. After several early mornings by the pond, I decided to return once more to the same spot.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#4 “Baptism Of The Unwilling Convert” By Grayson Bell, USA
One morning I was hanging out with my camera along the edge of a pond near our home. I noticed 2 frogs fighting and took a bunch of shots of them. This photo captures two male Green frogs, which are native to Maine. They usually have greenish-brown on their backs, with dusky bars on their hind legs and a lighter underside.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#5 “Hornbill In A Hurry” By Geoff Martin, UK
I was in a hide in Zimanga, South Africa photographing white backed vultures or rather hoping to, when this southern yellow billed hornbill appeared and proceeded to position itself immediately in front of the hide obscuring any clear shots of the vultures.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#6 “Bad Mouthing” By Hikkaduwa Liyanage Prasantha Vinod, Sri Lanka
These are two of three leopard siblings. Two female and one male. Here in the selected image the larger one is the male cub and the other is one of the female cubs.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#7 “Fonzies Advertising” By Liliana Luca, Italy
This moment happened after the tourists had left Nosy Komba (Madagascar). I stopped, letting the silence fall around me, and turned my attention to a group of crowned sifakas (Propithecus deckenii).
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#8 “The Choir” By Meline Ellwanger, USA
A hilariously lucky moment I caught of these these three lions yawning at the same time.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#9 “Now Which Direction Is My Nest?” By Alison Tuck, UK
A windy day on Bempton Cliffs during the nesting season.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#10 “Go Away” By Annette Kirby, Australia
In February 2025 I flew from my home in South Australia where the summer temperatures ranged from mid 20’s to mid-40 degrees Celsius to the island of Hokkadia in Japan, where temperatures were minus degrees, the coldest day being minus 18 Celsius.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#11 “Landing Gears Down” By Erkko Badermann, Finland
This photograph came about as a hard-won victory of patience. I have been photographing Red-throated Loons for several years. I lie on the edge of a bond under a camouflage net and photograph their spring courtship displays from my hide. The ground is wet and cold. That morning, an unseasonable early-spring snowfall caught me by surprise, making photography almost impossible.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#12 “Bad Hair Day!” By Christy Grinton, Canada
For my image “Bad Hair Day” I was in a local park in downtown Victoria when I saw a grey blur run by. When I looked closer I saw a mother grey squirrel was relocating her babies to a new nest. The grass was dewy that morning so she was getting a wet tail as she ran through the grass. As she entered her new nest her tail was sticking out so when she turned around to leave, for a short second her head was covered by her wet tail.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#13 “Masquerading As An Arrow” By Magnus Berggren, Sweden
The story about the image is that I was out looking for eagles this little arrow come blasting through the sky; it was a black woodpecker. As it tucked its wings under its body, creating the perfect illusion of sheer speed, I was lucky to get it in frame and also get a sharp image, because i was using a slower shutterspeed at the moment.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#14 “Battle Hug” By Jessica Emmett, Singapore
I have limited mobility and often use a mobility scooter to do wildlife photography, so I often stick to my local park, Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park in Singapore. While out on a typical overcast morning at the park, my attention snapped towards two monitors locked in battle in the distance.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#15 “Hit The Dance Floor!” By Paula Rustemeier, Germany
This shot was taken quite at the beginning of my wildlife photography “journey”. I always enjoyed nature, but usually only photographed my dog, until I observed foxes for an essay I wrote for biology lessons in school and decided I want to try to photograph and learn even more about foxes.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#16 “Steller Eagles Practice Kung Fu Tango” By Michael Lane, UK
Steller Eagles are the heaviest eagles in the world, weighing up to 9kgs and with wingspans up to 2.5 metres. They can be found in northern Russia, northern Japan and Korea and it is estimated there are only about 4500 adults currently left.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#17 “Omg He’s At It Again!” By David Rice, USA
Crazy morning antics of the Red-Crowned Cranes.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#18 “The Shoulders Of Giants” By Andrew Mortimer, Australia
If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giant [frog] s. In a bore casing on a minesite tenement around 2 hours drive from Leonora, there lives a colony of frogs. Slightly too short to see over the PVC casing, they make do wherever they can.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#19 “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” By Bret Saalwaechter, USA
“I’ve always been fascinated by the complex social lives of lions, and there’s no better place to observe them than Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. I captured this image in September 2024, during the dry season, when dwindling food and water can heighten family tensions.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#20 “It Is Tough Being A Duck” By John Speirs, UK
This picture was taken on a very dull day, when the duck was just sitting on the surface of the sea loch a shaft of light broke through the clouds and light him up and he seemed to go into holiday mood.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#21 “Smiler” By Jenny Stock, Australia
Whilst on a scuba dive in the Philippines, this little fish kept popping its head out of its home, a hole in the patterned coral. I took a few photos and I loved its cheeky face smiling back at me. What an expressive looking face!
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#22 “Darling, Please Stop!” By Massimo Felici, Italy
During a photo safari in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, we were following this pair of lions in love. Unfortunately, they were disturbed by a violent thunderstorm, which dampened their enthusiasm!
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#23 “The Wig” By Yann Chauvette, Canada
The Greater One-Horned Rhino feasting on aquatic fine food, diving underwater and coming back up with a new wig made out of his delicious meal.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#24 “Great Hair Day” By David Fetters, UK
The subject of the photograph is an Amazonian Umbrellabird – Cephalopterus ornatus. I photographed it in a forest in the Pantanal in Brazil. It seemed to be unwell and unable to fly so contact was made with a vet in a town some distance from where I was and they came out and took it away for treatment – I hope it had a good outcome.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#25 “Welcome To Zen Lemur Yoga Course!” By Andrey Giljov, Russian Federation
Instructor Lemur demonstrates perfect enthusiasm, reaching high to embrace the universe. Student Lemur contemplates whether enlightenment is worth this much effort before breakfast. Flexibility? Optional. Dramatic flair? Mandatory.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#26 “The Frog Prince Of The Grape Vine” By Beate Ammer, Australia
Meet the Frog Prince of my little garden — he’s been lazing around guarding my grape vine, waiting for a kiss, but I think he’s just here for the grapes. This charming amphibian seems to have mistaken the vine for his royal court, lounging among the plump fruit as if he’s the monarch of the orchard.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#27 “Flamingone” By Miles Astray, Canada
The picture shows a flamingo whose head is apparently missing, but I promise it’s there somewhere. In fact, the bird is just going about its morning routine at a Caribbean beach, head tucked beneath the torso to give the plumage a good cleaning.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#28 “Squirrel Airborne: Surrender Mode” By Stefan Cruysberghs, Belgium
A few years ago, a simple wooden hide was available for rent in a forest near my home, known for its lively red squirrel population. I had visited the spot several times before, and eventually began experimenting with capturing squirrels mid-jump.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#29 “Paint Me Like One Of Your Forest Girls” By Michael Stavrakakis. Australia
This image was captured in the Tanjung Puting National Park in southern Borneo and features Sandra, the oldest known orangutan living in the area.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#30 “Stretch Your Leg” By Peter Reinold, USA
Originally, I was just planning on taking a road trip through the Everglades on my day off to revisit known locations to combine them with my new passion for wildlife photography. When I got to this spot, I was planning to shoot Gators as they used to hang out in the area and were easy to spot from the boardwalk.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#31 “What Do You Mean I Need To See A Dentist?” By Bingqian Gao, UK
I spotted this porcupinefish in the shallow waters of the Sea of Cortez. Among the group, she stood out immediately – her mouth stayed open, giving her a comic look of perpetual shock. On closer inspection, I realised she couldn’t close it at all; a thick layer of algae had even begun to grow inside.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#32 “Territorial Defence Operation” By Antoine Rezer, France
After five weeks in north-eastern Greenland on a scientific mission, I am slowly getting back in touch with human civilisation by spending a week in Iceland. Driving along the edge of a fjord in north-western Iceland, I spot some gyrfalcons. I stop and watch them for a long time – there’s a whole family! My eye is drawn to a larger bird of prey, a white-tailed eagle. Amazing! It lands after making it clear to the falcons that he’s the boss.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#33 “Relaxing In The Trees!” By Diana Rebman, USA
This Yellow-cheeked Gibbon was just hanging out in the trees. Looks like he’s waiting for a beer to be served.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#34 All Smiles” By Chris Stanley, USA
Flame Skimmer Dragonfly lands on the stalk of an Aloe Vera plant and flashes a quick smile for the camera. I can only say that I didn’t have to travel far to capture this image since it was taken in my own backyard! It wasn’t until I saw this image on a larger screen that I noticed the happy expression on his face.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#35 “Peek A Boo” By Henry Szwinto, UK
A Sri Lankan Elephant playing peek a boo with his ears
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#36 “Oh My!” By Laurent Nilles, Luxemburg
A young baboon looking up as an elephant approaches, unsure whether to stand his ground or to run away. He decided to flee shortly after the picture was taken.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#37 “Aaaaaww Mum!” By Mark Meth-Cohn, UK
This photograph was taken during a trip to Rwanda earlier this year, where we spent four unforgettable days trekking through the misty Virunga Mountains in search of the gorilla families that call them home.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#38 “Pied Piper Of Penguins” By Ralph Robinson, USA
Our last day of shooting in the Falkland Islands, after a week of island hopping, was at Volunteer Point, a headland on the east coast of East Falkland, northeast of Stanley. It received its name in 1815, when the sealing ship Volunteer left a boat’s crew there to collect seal skins while it went in search of opportunities elsewhere.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#39 “Monkey Circus” By Kalin Botev, Bulgaria
My wife, Nellie and I were on our honeymoon in the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, known for its vast landscapes and its huge elephant herds. We were there right in the beginning of the rainy season and witnessed how nature wakes up after the first rains in many months.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
#40 “High Five” By Mark Meth-Cohn, UK
This photograph was taken during a trip to Rwanda earlier this year, where we spent four unforgettable days trekking through the misty Virunga Mountains in search of the gorilla families that call them home. On this particular day, we came across a large family group gathered in a forest clearing, the adults were calmly foraging while the youngsters were enthusiastically playing.
Image source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife
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