The best entries so far for the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Awards
Now in its 7th year, the annual Comedy Wildlife Awards showcases some of the funniest wildlife moments caught on camera. Here are some of the best entries, out of thousands submitted from around the world, so far, that the judges and organizers felt the urge to share with the public.
‘A lot of wildlife shown in these images are facing threats to their populations and habitats that are heart-breaking. With this competition, we wanted to capture people’s attention and energy by giving them a giggle. In order to protect animals, we need people to fall in love with them. We think these wondrous shots show a side of wildlife that we don’t often get to see. They remind us of the beauty, and comedy, in our natural world that needs protecting,’ says Tom Sullam, the competition’s co-founder.
You still have six more weeks to enter the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Awards. Photographers are allowed to submit up to 10 images. The grand prize includes a safari to Maasai Mara in Kenya. 10% of the competition’s total net revenue will be donated to the Save Wild Orangutans charity.
Entry: ‘Bald Eagle Gets a Surprise’ by Arthur Trevino
Location: Hygiene, CO
Animal Description: Bald Eagle & Prairie Dog
Artist Description: When this Bald Eagle missed on its attempt to grab this prairie dog, the prairie dog jumped towards the eagle and startled it long enough to escape to a nearby burrow. A real David vs Goliath story!
Entry: ‘Monday Morning Mood’ by Andrew Mayes
Location: Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa
Animal Description: Pied Starling
Arist Description: I took this shot while photographing a group of Pied starlings perched in a tree at the Rietvlei Nature Reserve in South Africa. It perfectly sums up my mood on most Monday mornings 🙂
Entry: ‘ROFL’ by Giovanni Querzani
Location: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Animal Description: Young Lion
Artist Description: A young lion in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, who apparently is laughing at my photography skills.
Entry: ‘Quarantine Life’ by Kevin Biskaborn
Location: South Western Ontario, Canada
Animal Description: Raccoon
Artist Description: Isolated inside with your family eager to get out and explore the world? These eastern raccoon kits are too. Just when you think there’s no more room in the tree hollow, mother raccoon appears and displays just how compact the space is. The babies clambered all over their mom and each another, struggling to take a look at the exact same time.
This photo was taken in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. After exploring a particular area with numerous tree hallows, I identified it as a hot spot for raccoon families. Since raccoons will move from den to den, often not spending more than one night at a time in a particular den, locating an area with numerous options is key to locating the animals.
I stumbled across this family and immediately worked on leveling the camera with the hole to prevent an upward angle. When the camera and tripod were ready, the baby raccoons were extremely curious (and cooperative), sticking their heads out for a closer look!
Entry: ‘Yoga Bittern’ by KT Wong
Location: Satay By The Bay, Singapore
Animal Description: Yellow Bittern
Artist Description: A Yellow Bittern was trying very hard to get into a comfortable hunting position. I got this shot when it was between 2 stalks of lotus flower.
Entry: ‘Missed!’ by Lea Scaddan
Location: Perth, Australia
Animal Description: Western Grey Kangaroo
Artist Description: Two Western Grey Kangaroos were fighting and one missed kicking him in the stomach.
Entry: ‘Yay – It’s Friday!’ by Lucy Beveridge
Location: Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa
Animal Description: Springbok
Artist Description: A young springbok, all ears and spindly legs, caught in midair while pronking as the sun started to rise over the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. There’s not much information on why the Springbok pronk but some theories suggest it is a way of showing fitness and strength to ward off predators and attract mates. It has also been said that this small, dainty and largely unappreciated antelope also pronks out of excitement, jumping for joy!
Entry: ‘Sweet Lips Are For Kissing’ by Philipp Stahr
Location: Curaçao, Dutch Caribbean
Animal Description: Boxfish
Artist Description: This picture was taken at Curaçao, Dutch Caribbean. Usually box fishes are difficult to take pictures of, since they do not have a problem of a diver coming close, but if you show interest, they always turn the back and not the face to you. That’s why I tried to swim 0.5m above the fish and showing no interest at all to him.
The same time I had my camera not in front of me, but below at my chest pointing to the bottom. When the right moment had come, I turned the camera 90 degrees to the front and just point and shoot, hoping to have the fish in focus. Never expected to have its beautiful lips that close!
Entry: ‘Cranky Hippo’ by Rohin Bakshi
Location: Vwaza Game Reserve, Malawi
Animal Description: Hippo
Artist Description: The baby hippo wanted his mother’s attention, but it seems he wasn’t getting any.
Entry: ‘Happy’ by Tom Svensson
Location: Falklands
Animal Description: Penguin
Artist Description: These penguins was surfing on the waves on to land and looked so happy each time.
Entry: ‘Houston – We’ve Got a Problem!’ by Txema Garcia Laseca
Location: Pantanal (Brazil)
Animal: Amazon Kingfisher
Artist Description: This fish is astonished when has been trapped for a fisher bird.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)