Smart News | December 17, 2024

Check Out 14 Hilarious Winners From the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Contest

From an “awkward” smiling frog to embarrassing owl parents, this year’s winners of the entertaining annual competition won’t let you down



A red-bellied woodpecker peers into a hole in a tree and spots a very alarmed-looking young screech owl. The photograph, which was highly commended in the contest, is titled "You're not my mother." © Randy Herman / Nikon Comedy Wildlife

The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards has announced the highly anticipated results of its tenth annual contest. On December 10, the competition unveiled an overall winner, nine category winners and ten highly commended entries in an entertaining gallery. Having garnered 9,000 submissions, 2024 marks the most competitive year yet of the self-described “funniest and most popular photography competition in the world.”

The contest was founded in 2015 by photographers and conservationists Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam with the aim of organizing a “refreshing, fun and free” photography competition “unlike any other” to raise awareness about conservation, according to a statement emailed to Smithsonian magazine.

“Issues of wildlife conservation and sustainability are gaining momentum globally, yet the messages and images tend to be negative, depressing and enervating,” Joynson-Hicks says on the contest’s website.

Instead, the page continues, this comedic competition “accesses our empathy by showing how alike we really are. You don’t need to cover your eyes or look away. We want our viewers to share our enjoyment of nature and take the time to recognize its value.”

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Overall winner: "Stuck Squirrel" by Milko Marchetti © Milko Marchetti / Nikon Comedy Wildlife

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