Get ready to laugh out loud, because the wild just got seriously funny! The Nikon 2025 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have dropped their 2025 finalists, and they’re an absolute riot. From clumsy penguins and sassy owls to lions pulling faces that deserve an Oscar, these 40 side-splitting shots remind us that nature has a killer sense of humor.
This year’s shortlist features 40 standalone images, 3 portfolio entries, and 10 hilarious videos—all proving that timing, patience, and a touch of luck can turn wildlife photography into pure comedy gold. With nearly 10,000 entries from 108 countries, the judges had their hands full picking the cream of the crop. Whether it’s a grinning monkey or a bear doing what looks suspiciously like yoga, these photos celebrate the goofy, unpredictable, and lovable side of the animal kingdom.
Since its launch, the Comedy Wildlife Awards has become the world’s most joyful photography contest—mixing laughter with a deeper purpose. Behind the humor lies a powerful message: to raise awareness about wildlife conservation and remind us how amazing and vulnerable these creatures are.
Mark your calendars—December 9th is when the Overall Winner and Category Champions will be revealed at the Awards Night in London. And if you’re lucky enough to be nearby, don’t miss the one-week exhibition at Gallery@Oxo, running from December 10–14, showcasing all the 2025 finalists in all their comic glory.
Because honestly, who needs memes when you’ve got a laughing seal, a photobombing giraffe, and a moose with impeccable comedic timing?
You can find more info about NCWA:
#1. "Now which direction is my nest?" by Alison Tuck, UK
"A windy day on Bempton Cliffs during the nesting season."
#2. "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."
#3. "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."
#4. "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. "
#5. "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."
#6. "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."
#7. "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."
#8. "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."
#9. "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."
#10. "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. "
#11. "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."
#12. "OMG he’s at it again!" by David Rice, USA
"Crazy morning antics of the Red-Crowned Cranes"
#13. "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."
#14. "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."
#15. "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."
#16. "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."
#17. "Peek a Boo" by Henry Szwinto, UK
"A Sri Lankan Elephant playing peek a boo with his ears"
#18. "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."
#19. "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!"
#20. "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."
#21. "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."
#22. "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."
#23. "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."
#24. "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."
#25. "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)."
#26. "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."
#27. "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."
#28. "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."
#29. "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!"
#30. "The Choir" by Meline Ellwanger, USA
"A hilariously lucky moment I caught of these these three lions yawning at the same time."
#31. "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."
#32. "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."
#33. "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."
#34. "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."
#35. "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."
#36. "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."
#37. "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."
#38. "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."
#39. "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."
#40. "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."
