A Sneak Peak of The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards (CPWA) is one of the world’s funniest photography competitions. The event sheds a light on the importance of conserving wildlife with the help of humour and fun. This competition was co-founded in 2015 by professional wildlife photographers Paul Joynson Hicks and Tom Sullam. They co-founded this competition because of their passion for wildlife and decades of experience living and working in the forests of East Africa.

The competition is free and open to all wildlife photographers, from novices to amateurs and professionals photographers. This platform will allow them to celebrate the hilarity of nature while highlighting the need to conserve it. Photographers participating can enter up to 10 images across six different categories. The categories are Creatures of the Air, Creatures of the Land, Underwater Category, Video Category, Junior Category, and Portfolio Category.

The last day to submit photographs is on September 1, 2022. The winner of this competition will get the chance to go on a safari in Maasai Mara, Kenya with Alex Walker’s Serian. The Serian is a bunch of exclusive, charismatic, and intimate safari camps in the prime wildernesses of Kenya and Tanzania.

Every year, the competition joints hands with a sustainable conservative organization. This year, they are collaborating with the ‘Whitley Fund for Nature’ (WFN). It is a British charity that provides help to conservation leaders working in their home countries, especially across the global south. In the past 29 years, they have provided around £19 million to more than 200 conservationists in 80 countries.

The organizers of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have released a series of funny wildlife pictures to kick start this competition.

The first image shared is of an Alaskan Brown Bea at Lake Clark National Park, USA. The image is been named “The Proposal”. Some think the cubs are in love while the others think that one cub is scolding or shouting the other for pooping on the salad.

The next image shared is of a Blue-striped fangblenny fish from Weh Island, Indonesia. In the picture, Blenny the fish is seen sneakily hiding in, and peering out from a coral’s cleave. It seems to be playing hide and seek with the divers.

The third image is of a monkey that entered a house in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India. The photographer says “This monkey came to the yard of my house and I gave him bread, wrapped in the paper. After eating the bread, the monkey started reading the piece of newspaper.”

Have you seen an Original Angry Bird? If not, then here it is; the image of a Least Bittern bird captured in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, USA. The photographer mentioned that he had to wait quite a while to spot the bird. However, the wait was worth it.

The fifth image shared is of a mom & baby Mountain gorilla in Rwanda. The photographer stated that they had to trek for several hours to reach this gorilla family. They were fortunate to spot baby gorillas in their group. They added, “All their antics are interesting and entertaining, like this youngster involved in a ‘deep dive’ nose pick when Mom wasn’t looking.”

Let’s see a Steller sea eagle participating in “The Ministry of Silly Walks”. This image was taken in Hokkaido, Japan. The photographer mentioned that “The Ministry of Silly Walks” is a sketch from the comedy television show Monty Python’s Flying Circus. This picture reminds the photographer of that sketch.

Do you know that ground squirrels live together in colonies? But, each squirrel has its burrow and is mostly jealous when his or her neighbour has something good to eat. The image shared is of a European Ground Squirrel captured in Vienna, Austria. In the image, one squirrel has found a barleycorn and the other squirrel is trying its best to steal it.

Is he laughing or yawning? The image shared is of two cheetah brothers sitting together in Masaai Mara, Kenya. The photographer says, “It was the very first day of our trip to Kenya when we spotted two cheetah brothers just resting during sunset. When one of them started rolling on the ground, I took my camera out and started shooting. The result is a cheetah cracking a lovely laugh.”

Last but not least is the image of a Red Fox captured in Yellowstone Park, USA. It looks like the fox is practicing snow yoga. According to the photographer, this fox jumped for a vole and aced the landing. However, it got stuck in the snow and was in there for a few seconds.