Try not to laugh at these 10 best Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023 winners
“I come from a land down under!”
By James Cutmore
Published: Thursday, 23 November 2023 at 00:01 AM
You know what we should see more of? Photobombing kangaroos. That’s our primary conclusion after guffawing at all the whimsical winners of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023
The highly commended cheeky ‘roo (which you can see below) is joined by many other animals caught in moments they’d rather forget. These include a white-winged dove flying straight into a tree, a very moody owl, and a long-tailed macaque monkey posing like Kate Winslet on a Titanic sofa. There really is something for everyone.
But the funniest animal of the year? Another kangaroo, this one seemingly rocking out and playing a spot of air guitar. The image, taken by Jason Moore, beat off some serious competition from over 5,000 entries from photographers from around the world.
Here are some of the winners and our top picks from this year’s Comedy Wildlife Awards.
Highly commended – Monday blahs
This great grey owl (Strix nebulosa) spent most of the afternoon posing majestically and looking wise. However, during stretches they would slump and give a look of ‘Is Monday over yet?’ Photographed at Salt Lake City, Grand Teton National Park, USA. Photo by John Blumenkamp/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023.
Highly commended – Boing
Taken at Westerfolds Park, a beautiful and surprisingly wild pocket of land in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, famous for its kangaroo population. The mob was enjoying some morning sunshine when this joey decided to get silly and try his hand at boxing. Photo by Lara Mathews/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023
Highly commended – Snowball
A grouse looks more like a snowball in this image taken at Spitzbergen, Svalbard. Photo by Jacques Poulard/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023
Highly commended – The happy turtle
This swamp turtle is surprised and seems to smile at the dragonfly resting on its nose. Photographed at Jezreel Valley, Israel. Photo by Tzahi Finkelstein/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023
Highly commended – That wasn’t there yesterday
A white-winged dove appears to fly head-on into a cholla cactus skeleton. Photographed at Buckeye, Arizona, USA. Photo by Wendy Kaveney/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023
Highly commended – Rainforest dandy
This picture was taken in the monkey forest in Ubud, Bali. This place is a crazy place where monkeys such as this long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) seem to be in charge. Photo by Delphine Casimir/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023
A young greenfinch (Chloris chloris) seems to be having a heated argument with its parents. Photographed at Bialowieza forest, Poland. Photo by Jacek Stankiewicz/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023
Creatures of the air category winner – Unexpected plunge
An unusual and almost miserable end of a perfect moment, as a striated heron (Butorides striata) tries to catch a fish at the Zimanga Private Game Reserve, South Africa. Photo by Vittorio Ricci/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023
Creatures under the water category winner – Otter ballerina
A smooth-coated otter is either doing a spot of ballet or tripping over, in this image taken in Singapore. Photo by Otter Kwek/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023
Overall winner – Air guitar roo
This western grey kangaroo is having fun playing some air guitar. Photographed in Perth, Australia. Photo by Jason Moore/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023
