The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards announces 2020 finalists and they’re serious meme material

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards competition has never failed to make me laugh with its selection of comical photos of animals. And this year’s gallery is no exception. The contest has announced its 2020 finalists and they caused me to laugh out loud, and I’m sharing them hoping to get you to laugh, too.

The team behind the contest describes it as “almost probably the world’s funniest photography competition.” If you ask me, it is the funniest photography competition, at least to my knowledge. I see some of the photos as brilliant meme material, but of course – don’t make and share memes without the photographers’ permission.

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards was founded by Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, both professional photographers and passionate conservationists. Just like every year, this year’s contest was free to enter for photographers from all over the world. Newbies and veterans; hobbyists and paid professionals – anyone is always welcome to submit their photos of funny wildlife.

Another thing that has stayed the same over the years is that The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards isn’t only about the light-hearted relief. Partnering with The Born Free Foundation, it also aims to highlight the extremely important message of wildlife conservation. We support their cause and would love to share their message and some tips for being “a conservationist at home”:

Shop locally and responsibly

With the recent lockdown, we have all got used to doing things slightly differently, including shopping closer to home, so why not carry on? It helps in all sorts of ways from supporting small, local businesses to shrinking your carbon footprint and is way more fun! And if you can avoid buying un-recyclable products and one-use plastics/packaging, even better!

Put plant boxes on your windowsills

One of the easiest things to do… put a plant box on your windowsill, grow some flowers, and give the bees somewhere to go. We’ve all heard of the importance of bees, and this little nod towards their daily requirements is already a huge step in the right direction. Imagine if every windowsill had a flower box! It would be an absolute miracle, so let’s start that process!

Only fly long haul if you really have to.

Something else lockdown has taught us is how amazing the internet is at keeping us in touch with each other! We’re all Zoom experts now! Let’s embrace this new whizz technology and only take those flights if there is really no other way.

Become a “wild influencer.”

This is a special person who may be not a mega activist, but really, really cares about the environment and wants to do something to help. For more ideas, please go to: www.comedywildlifephoto.com.

Other than a panel of judges who will determine the winners, there will also be a People’s Choice Award. This of course means that you can vote on your favorite images, and you even get a chance of winning a brand new iPad. You’ll find all the details that you need on The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards website.

And now for the photos. We bring you the finalists in this article, and the winners will be announced on 22 October. I hope that you won’t mind me starting with a few of my favorites. They literally made me laugh out loud, I’m not saying it just like that.

©Mark Fitzpatrick, Australia/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2020 – “Terry the Turtle flipping the bird”

And here are the rest of the finalists. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them as well and if none of my favorites made you smile (which I doubt), some of these surely will.