Laugh it Up: The 2024 Comedy Wildlife Photography Winners Are Pure Joy

The carnal satellite is harsh and afloat of suffering, arsenic animals eke retired beingness successful a endurance of the fittest. But that satellite is besides rather funny, particularly arsenic seen done an anthropomorphic lens.

That’s right: The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards conscionable announced its yearly enactment of winning and highly commended photographs. The images span the carnal kingdom, from armored mantises to furry felines, but each bash thing to seizure the humorous successful what tin beryllium a rather uncaring world.

The archetypal 9 photos featured successful the pursuing slideshow are the highly commended images; they are followed by this year’s winners. The wide victor of this year’s contention was Milko Marchetti’s changeable of a reddish squirrel stuck successful a tree. If immoderate of the shots are acquainted to you, that’s due to the fact that we previously showcased the finalists of this year’s awards. But adjacent if you caught that circular of photos, by viewing beneath you volition (1) larn who of those finalists really won the contention and (2) get to bask the wit successful each representation each implicit again.

Click to unfastened Slideshow

The bubble-encased frog won the reptile category—but I should emphasize, that is the competition’s choice. We astatine Gizmodo are alert that frogs are amphibians. The changeable of a food chasing an eagle took location the “Fish and Other Aquatic Species” category, portion the drawback of a tern taking a crook for the worse won successful the vertebrate category. Other winners included a changeable of a derpy frog (young lensman award), a clump of owls (junior lensman award), and a mantis (insect award). But each the photos are charming successful their ain mode and merit a due study.

The winning and highly commended images were selected from a tract of astir 9,000 images taken successful astir 100 antithetic countries. Nikon began the contention successful 2015, and we’ve seen plentifulness of highlights implicit the years. Recent winners of the competition’s apical prize see a lion colliding with a histrion (2022) and a monkey landing connected a subdivision successful a peculiarly uncomfortable mode (2021). You tin spot the finalists from past year here, and the shortlist of this year’s photos here. Suffice to say, there’s plentifulness capable comedic wildlife to spell ’round.

An accumulation hosting the 44 finalists of this year’s contention volition beryllium hosted astatine the Gallery@Oxo Tower Wharf successful London from today—Wednesday, December 11—through Sunday, December 15. Entries for the adjacent model of the contention volition unfastened successful March 2025—I look guardant to seeing what you each person to offer.