Dancing Gorilla Steals the Show at Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards 2025

The animal kingdom has a new dance icon, and his moves won the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards 2025! Mark Meth-Cohn from the UK has waltzed away with the top prize with this perfectly timed shot titled High Five, featuring a gorilla mid-groove in a Rwandan forest.

Comedy Wildlife Awards 2025 Overall Winner

Amid over 10,000 entries from 109 countries, Mark’s cheerful gorilla photo rose to the top. In adition the Overall Winner, High Five also won the Mammals Category Award.

“We spent four unforgettable days trekking through the misty Virunga Mountains in search of the gorilla families that call them home,” Mark shares.

“On this particular day, we came across a large family group known as the Amahoro family, they were gathered in a forest clearing where the adults were calmly foraging while the youngsters were enthusiastically playing. One young male was especially keen to show off his acrobatic flair: pirouetting, tumbling, and high kicking. Watching his performance was pure joy, and I’m thrilled to have captured his playful spirit in this image.”

The win earns Mark a dream safari in Kenya’s Masai Mara, a handcrafted Wonder Workshop trophy, and a top-tier ThinkTANK photography bag – perfect for carrying gear on his next adventure.

Foxes, Frogs, and a Surfing Heron: 2025 Category Winners

Mark’s photo may be the brightest star of this year’s show, but it’s not the only one. The 2025 Comedy Wildlife category winners delivered a wide range of hilarious and absurd animal photos.

Grayson Bell from the USA double-won with Baptism of an unwilling convert, a splashy frog fight photo that took both the Nikon Junior Award and the Reptile, Amphibian & Insect Category. He’s going home with Nikon’s Z50II and a NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR zoom lens.

Paula Rustemeier from Germany won the Nikon Young Photographer Award with Hit the dance floor, a photo of foxes busting a woodland groove. She wins a Z6III kit to keep chasing crazy wildlife moments.

Tatjana Epp, also from Germany, nailed the Video Category with a clip of a surfing heron (no, it’s not a typo). She wins Nikon’s ZR with a 24-70mm lens.

Warren Price from the UK took the first place in Bird Award with Headlock, a photo that looks more WWE than BBC Earth.

Another UK contestant, Jenny Stock, won the top prize in the Fish & Aquatic Animals Category with Smiley. Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a “smiling” fish. It’s adorable and kinda creepy at the same time, and I love it!

Maggie Hoffman from the USA claimed the Portfolio Award with her 4-shot series Digging for Gold, starring a chimpanzee on a nose-picking quest of epic proportions. I don’t know if I find the photos or the title funnier.

In the Name of Wildlife, Laughter, and Conservation

The winners were revealed in London on December 9, followed by a free public exhibition (Dec 10–14) at Gallery@Oxo. Guests can see all the finalists up close – 44 shortlisted masterpieces that prove nature’s got a sense of humor.

As you know, the  Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards is about conservation as much as it is about humor and photography. They took it up a notch by printing all the exhibited images on sustainable Hahnemühle Bamboo paper thanks to Metro Imaging

Vote for the Comedy Wildlife Awards 2025 People’s Choice!

You can have your say in this contest, too. Voting for the STERNA People’s Choice Award opens December 10. You can cast your vote here until March 1, 2026, and help crown a crowd favorite alongside the official judges.

The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards 2025 contest, as always, isn’t just about the chuckles. It reminds us that humor is a powerful tool – for connection, art creation, and conservation. Let us bring you a few more smiles with the Highly Commended images now, and make sure to visit the contest website for more details and resources.

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