We're getting down to the business end of one of the best annual competitions, the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards. After nearly 10,000 entries, the finalists have been unveiled – and we've picked out some favorites.
The competition, which has been growing in popularity since it began in 2015, attracted budding photographers from 108 countries, who managed to catch the lighter side of nature. Among this year's highlights are a dancing gorilla, a clumsy red fox and some frog teamwork. And, of course, lots of birds – the real comedians of the natural world.
"We had an awesome year last year and are absolutely delighted to be able to partner with the Nikon team again for 2025," said Tom Sullam, Comedy Wildlife Competition's co-founder. "Their ongoing support has supercharged the competition, reaching more people in more countries than ever before, helping us raise awareness of animal and habitat conservation and crucially, highlight the fundamental importance of having wildlife on our planet and in our lives. These inspiring and funny photos and videos do just that."
The awards are for a good cause, too – over the years, the competition has raised millions for 220 conservation groups in 80 countries. This year, money will go to the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), a UK charity that supports conservation leaders in the Global South.
“The Nikon Comedy Wildlife finalists are in, and we’re excited to share with you the brilliant images showcasing unique talent of photographers from every corner of the globe," said Stefan Maier, Nikon Europe's senior general marketing manager. "These images combine wit and wonder to celebrate nature’s character, while emphasising the urgency of conservation."
We highlight some of our favorites below, but for more don't miss our gallery of finalists.
Paula Rustemeier snapped this shot that one red fox in particular might not be so impressed with going public, on her journey of following red fox cubs as they ventured out for food, played with each other and went about their lives free of human hunting threats.
"The photo was taken in a nature reserve," she said. "I'm not the biggest fan of camouflaging. While I do use it occasionally, the best way I have found to photograph them, especially young ones, is just being present. If you put in the time, I found that the foxes usually get either curious or see you as something natural, not dangerous. Either way, they come close eventually. I had several foxes nipping at my shoes already like this, as well as foxes catching mice just a couple meters away from me.
"This was my tactic with these foxes too," she continued. "Like this, I could follow and document them for several months while they grew up. Their den lied in a sandy valley. Sometimes I found one or two sleeping in that area during the day, but when dawn set, they met up at this spot, got really active and often played a lot together, just like in the image."
This fantastic composition was taken by American enthusiast Ralph Robinson at a headland known as Volunteer Point on the Falkland Islands. The area has around 2,000 pairs of king penguins that breed there annually – which accounts for almost all of the remaining kings in the region.
"I spent most of the day lying on my belly, often in the sand, watching the kings," he recalled. "What a show! Not far away, a shepherd tended his flock of sheep, and it appeared for a moment that these king penguins were leading the way."
Andrew Mortimer captured this curious case of teamwork inside a bore casing left on a mine site in rural Western Australia.
"Around two hours drive from Leonora, there lives a colony of frogs," he said. "Slightly too short to see over the PVC casing, they make do wherever they can."
Alison Tuck captured the perils of cliffside living, with this gannet that certainly copped a faceful of nature one breezy day. The photographer simply described it as "a windy day on Bempton Cliffs during the nesting season."
You can have your say by voting for the People’s Choice Award from December 10 until March 1, with the winner announced on March 12, 2026. If you want to catch up on past galleries, you can view our earlier coverage of the awards from 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.
Source: Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards
