The Winners Of The 2015 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Have Been Revealed

From a levitating guinea pig, to nose picking gorillas and laughing seals, the funniest wildlife images of the year have been revealed.

This year, wildlife photographers around the world were invited to submit the most hilarious snaps they’d taken of animals for the first ever Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.

And the competition was strong, to say the least, especially considering that the three-headed giraffe, the lion with a Donald Trump comb-over and that viral photo of a weasel riding a woodpecker didn’t make the cut.

Over 800 entries were submitted for the competition, set up by British-born Paul Joynson-Hicks, a wildlife photographer based in Tanzania.

Writing on the awards’ official website and explaining the vision behind the contest, Joynson-Hicks said:

I am a wildlife photographer myself and am deeply passionate about taking pictures in the bush of all sorts of wild creatures. I am also hugely passionate about conserving our wild environments which is why its so important for us all to make sure that when we are taking pictures we are also taking care of the creatures we are photographing. That is why we are so excited to be partnering with the Born Free Foundation to enable us all to have an opportunity to make a difference.

I often enter wildlife photography competitions (NB so far with very little success!) but I love seeing the funny pictures. Strangely enough, they are harder to come by than you might think. We are looking for funny, creative, dynamic and interesting wildlife photographs, as well as of course, being technically proficient! And don’t forget the caption makes it funnier!

Joynson-Hicks, along with fellow judges wildlife TV presenter Kate Humble, comedian Hugh Dennis and Born Free Foundation president Will Travers, trawled through the entries to pick out the absolute best of the best.

Check out this year’s winner, as well as the runner-ups and the various entertaining highly commended other entries:

WINNER – 2015 “Rush Hour” by Julian Rad

SILVER RUNNER-UP – “You haven’t seen me…” by Liam Richardson

BRONZE RUNNER-UP – “Nearly got it” by Oliver Dreike

HIGHLY COMMENDED

It’s going to take some doing to top this lot for next year’s awards!