Every once in a while, the universe gifts us a moment so perfectly timed, so wildly goofy, that you can’t help but laugh out loud. And this year’s 2025 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards delivered those moments in full blast. We’re so pumped to finally spill the news: the grand winner of the Nikon-sponsored competition is none other than Mark Meth-Cohn, an amateur photographer from the UK who absolutely nailed it with his side-splitting shot titled “High Five.” The image captures a young gorilla mid-frolic in a forest clearing, throwing up what looks like the most enthusiastic high-five on Earth. Pure comedy gold.
Massive shoutout to Mark—dude just scored an unbelievable safari adventure in Kenya, gifted by Alex Walker’s Serian, who once again stepped up with the top prize. Talk about leveling up your photography journey in style.
But the fun doesn’t stop there. The awards night also spotlighted seven killer category winners and ten highly commended photos, each one capturing animals at their quirkiest, clumsiest, and most unexpectedly human moments. From birds with diva attitudes to bears caught in “oops” positions, these snapshots remind us why wildlife is the greatest sitcom of all time.
Thanks to the support of Nikon, this year’s event was pure magic—packed with energy, laughter, and a whole lot of “no way that really happened” reactions. Now it’s your turn to dive into these 16 hilarious winning photos and spread the joy across the globe… and yeah, maybe even beyond.
Wildlife never looked so funny—let’s roll.
You can find more info about NCWA:
#1. Overall Winner: "High Five" by Mark Meth Cohn, UK
"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 known as the Amahoro family, they were gathered in a forest clearing where the adults were calmly foraging while the youngsters were enthusiastically playing.
One young male was especially keen to show off his acrobatic flair: pirouetting, tumbling, and high kicking. Watching his performance was pure joy, and I’m thrilled to have captured his playful spirit in this image. Doing well in any competition shows that the images you are producing are working.
The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards are one of the major competitions of the year, easy to enter and fun but with a seriously committed underlying ethos and, after reaching the finals last year, I’m absolutely delighted to have gone one step further and win the competition this year."
#2. Bird Category Winner: "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. Aggression and battles are frequent over nesting space and I captured this image of this bemused looking bridled guillemot, its head firmly clamped in his/her neighbours beak.
I liked the way the guillemot was looking directly into my lens, its white eye-liner eyes highlighting its predicament! Sometimes you just want to bite your neighbours head off..literally!"
#3. Fish & Other Aquatic Animals Category Winner: "Smiley" by Jenny Stock, UK
"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! This cheerful looking species, the bluestriped fangblenny is around eight centimeters and actually has a rare defence mechanism, where it can bite an attacking predator and inject venom when it is threatened.
The venom causes dizziness and disorientation, weakening the predator’s ability to pursue and eat the fangblenny. I took the image at 10 meters deep, in the Philippines. I used an underwater housing around my mirrorless camera, and two underwater flash guns to illuminate the subject."
#4. Reptile, Amphibian & Insect Category Winner: "Baptism of the Unwilling Convert" by Grayson Bell, USA
"This photo was taken in early spring of 2023. The male frogs all come out to start establishing territory in the pond. I took my camera and lay on my belly, watching them and taking shots. It wasn’t until I got back to the house and looked at the pictures that I saw this one and realized how much I liked it.
I showed it to my parents and they loved it too and it became one of my favorites. We all thought it looked like one frog was trying to baptize the other! I started getting interested in photography about 3 years ago at the age of 10. My favorite subjects are chipmunks becuase they are so curious and cute.
Winning these category awards has been awesome. It’s great to be considered along side so many amazing entries and photographers. As a young photographer, it is affirming and inspiring to continue shooting! I really appreciated the opportunity to be a part of this!"
#5. Nikon Young Photographer of the Year Winner: "Hit the dance floor – foxes in a breakdance battle" 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.
The photo was taken in a nature reserve. They don’t get hunted there and therefore are seen during the day as well. Something I found true with all areas with low hunting pressure that I’ve been to so far."
#6. Portfolio Category Winner: "Digging for Gold" by Maggie Hoffman, USA
"A young female chimpanzee picking her nose and eating it!"
Highly Commended
#7. "Smile – you’re being photographed" by Valtteri Mulkahainen, Finland
#8. "The choir" by Meline Ellwanger, USA
#9. "Landing gear down" by Erkko Badermann, Finland
#10. "Monkey Circus" by Kalin Botev, Bulgaria
#11. "Bad hair day" by Christy Grinton, Canada
#12. "I just cant wait to be king" by Bret Saalwaechter, USA
#13. "Fonzies advertising" by Liliana Luca, Italy
#14. "Now which direction is my nest" by Alison Tuck, UK
#15. "Go away" by Annette Kirby, Australia
#16. "Aaaaawa – mum" by Mark Meth Cohn, UK
