Wildly Funny: The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Winners

With over 1500 entries from 52 different countries, the organizers of the inaugural Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have a good reason to smile. The hilarious submissions gave them a good reason to laugh too.

Aiming to raise awareness for wildlife while celebrating animals’ funny sides, the competition shares those special moments that wildlife photographers are rarely able to plan, but are always thrilled to encounter.

Julian Rad (Austria) was named the winner of the competition by the expert and celebrity panel of judges, including renowned wildlife photographer Will Burrad Lucas. Rad will enjoy a 7-day safari in Tanzania with the competition’s founder, Paul Joynson-Hicks, as his guide. Along with the safari and a return flight from the UK, Rad also received a Nikon D750 with a 24-85mm lens.

“Judging was really difficult as we had so many amazing entries, but in the end we found an incredible selection of technically brilliant photographs which are hilarious!,” Joynson-Hicks said, adding that the competition exceeded their expectations for the inaugural year.

“It was a pleasure to judge the inaugural Comedy Wildlife awards. The number and quality of the entries was fantastic. The finalists should be very proud of themselves, as should the animals they photographed, simply for looking so funny. Sadly there is no way of telling them,” said British comedian and competition judge Hugh Dennis.

William Richardson (UK) and Oliver Dreike (UK) were the runners up and received a Nikon 1 AW1 kit and Nikon Coolpix P900, respectively.

Of the 45 photos that made it to the final stage, the following were highly commended by the judges:

Make sure you sign up for updates on the CWPA website if you’d like to enter the next competition.