Every year for over a decade, the Comedy Wildlife Comedy Awards have recognized the best (or at least funniest) images of the natural world. With entries now closed and with finalists to be announced in September, ExplorersWeb reviews the standouts.
Warren Price won the Birds category for this zany image of two guillemots. Not to pick favorites (journalistic integrity is so important) but this one is my favorite. Photo: Warren Price/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Forcible frog baptism
Thirteen-year old Grayson Bell laid by the pond for hours, taking shots of male frogs squabbling for territory. When he reviewed the shots, one pair of amphibious wrestlers struck him as particularly comical. Their poses, and perhaps something of the cold determination in a frog’s glassy eye, strongly suggest that one combatant is forcibly baptizing the other.
Baptism of the Unwilling Convert, as Bell titled it, won the Under 16 category and the Reptiles, Amphibians, and Insects Award.
An image that’ll have you pondering a new, darker, more Catholic direction for the Frog and Toad books. Photo: Grayson Bell/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
King of the Jungle, Queen of Comedy
An earlier peek at the entries showed, among other gems, two lionesses attempting to climb a tree. The species dominated the competition this year, also starring in two different Highly Commended category winners.
Meline Ellwanger’s entry captured a trio of lions yawning synchronously. A microphone stand is all that would be needed to complete the illusion of a feline choir.
Photo: Meline Ellwanger/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Bret Saalwaechter captured a family of pestered lionesses and loud, cajoling cubs. Anyone who has observed a tired, sunburned family five hours deep into a day at any theme park will recognize the scene.
Waiting out the dry season, Saalwaechter explained, flared tempers in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. Photo: Bret Saalwaechter/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Meet our winner
The great apes have, I think, a natural talent for comedy. Like clowns, they’re vaguely person-shaped, but more expressively buffoonish, like a parody of us. The subject of this year’s overall winner, a young male gorilla, is no exception.
The gorilla “was especially keen to show off his acrobatic flair: pirouetting, tumbling, and high kicking,” photographer Mark Meth Cohn explained. “I’m thrilled to have captured his playful spirit in this image.”
There’s a lot to be delighted by here, but I’m particularly charmed by the roundness of this gallant fellow. Photo: Mark Meth Cohn/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
You can view the full gallery on the competition’s website.
