If you enjoy humor, art, and animals like we do, then you’re going to love these photos. After a tense wait, the judges have made their decisions, and the winners of the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards 2024 have finally been announced.

Today, we’re showcasing the contest’s top works, including the hilarious overall winning photo ‘Stuck Squirrel’ by Italian professional photographer Milko Marchetti. Scroll down to check out all of the best photos from this year, and be sure to share what you think in the comments.

For those of you living in the United Kingdom, you’re in luck because you can see all the 2024 Award Finalists featured at an exhibition in London at the Gallery@Oxo.

More info: ComedyWildlifePhoto.com | Instagram | Facebook

#1 Overall Winner And Mammal Category Winner: Milko Marchetti "Stuck Squirrel"

The photo was taken on April 23, 2022, in the “Podere Pantaleone” park in Bagnacavallo – Ravenna – Italy. It is a park open to the public and schools, but from October to March, it is closed to visitors, and I am allowed (in exchange for photographs for educational and promotional purposes) to use a fixed photographic hide to photograph passerines, woodpeckers, hawks, and even 3-4 squirrels that come to visit the photographic set consisting of a small lake, and the surrounding vegetation. Generally, in Italy, especially in the area where I live, in the Po Delta Regional Park, it is very difficult to see and photograph squirrels (they are very rare) but here in the park they are quite confident. A few meters from the hide, an old cut tree has a hole (an old woodpecker's nest), and here the squirrels (two years ago there were 4 specimens) sometimes come out of curiousity to check out the old hollow tree. I have taken several photos of squirrels in many situations, but the shot I choose to participate in the Nikon Comedy Wildlife immediately struck me for the strange position assumed by the squirrel that seems to be stuck halfway in the hole in the tree, but in reality it is the moment in which it is detaching the support on its hind legs and enters the hole. This photo had an effect on me and made me smile a lot in that moment that I clicked the button, and during my evenings of slideshows and nature videos that I often hold at photography clubs and theaters, the audience always explodes in energetic laughter when I show this photo. I knew I had to enter it into the competition.

Image credits: Milko Marchetti

#2 Fish & Other Aquatic Animals Category Winner: Przemyslaw Jakubczyk "Unexpected Role Swap"

Every annoyed and overtired fish needs to de-stress by hunting for a bald eagle

Image credits: Przemyslaw Jakubczyk

A jaw-dropping 9,000 images—from amateur and veteran photographers alike—were entered into the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards this year, the highest number ever over the past decade.

The awards night took place at the Oxo Gallery in London, where Marchetti was announced the overall winner, having wowed the judges with a photo of a red squirrel stuck in a tree.

Out of the thousands of images entered, 45 were selected for the panel of judges to pick their favorites from. The competition was incredibly fierce. The team organizing the contest noted that only a few points lay between the top 5 entries. However, Marchetti brought home the gold with his wonderfully witty squirrel photo.

#3 Bird Category Winner: Damyan Petkov "Whiskered Tern Crash On Landing"

Whiskered tern head hit the rock when try to land

Image credits: Damyan Petkov

#4 Highly Commended: Jan Piecha "I'll Tell You A Secret"

A tiny raccoon is telling a secret to its mum while whispering in her ear

Image credits: Jan Piecha

“I have taken many, many photographs of squirrels, in many situations over the years in Italy, but this one struck me as really funny and such a strange position because it is that exact moment when the squirrel is detaching its back legs from the trunk to enter its hide. Whenever I show this image at the nature seminars at my local photography club, the audience always explodes with raucous laughter, so I had to enter it!” Marchetti said.

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards was founded a decade ago, back in 2015, by professional photographers and passionate conservationists Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam. They wanted to create a refreshing, fun, and free-to-enter photography competition unlike any other. The contest was meant to be a blend of humor, honoring wildlife, and raising awareness about conservation.

#5 Highly Commended: Leslie Mcleod "Hide And Seek"

We were on safari in Kenya and happened upon this beautiful female who was looking for a mate. A group of topi were also keeping a pretty close eye her as she left messages for a potential partner on various trees. This shot makes me think that the cheetah is just about to shout out, "ready or not, here I come!"

Image credits: Leslie Mcleod

#6 Highly Commended: Ralph Robinson "Gang Of Four"

On the penguin highway, these rockhoppers are moving into town, and this town ain't big enough for all of them! I set up my camera a good distance from this ridge, where rockhopper penguins were returning from feeding in the southern Atlantic ocean in the Falkland Islands. The long lens pulled them into the frame without disturbing their return to nests on the hill. I love photographing penguins after they've been in the water as they are cleaner! These birds look like they are ready to kick some penguin a**!

Image credits: Ralph Robinson

“Nature photography has been my passion, ever since I was a boy, and I’ve always put all my free time and energy into it. I think that nature offers so much beauty and variety, and with a camera, the photographer has this ability, this superpower to freeze a moment and make it last forever in the form of a photograph,” overall winner Marchetti said.

The photographer was incredibly happy about how everything turned out. “When I received the email that I had a photo in the Finalists, I couldn’t believe it. But when I found out I had won, Tom, who called me and gave me the brilliant news, can confirm that I shouted Wow, Wow, Wow quite a few times whilst also jumping for joy. Looking at the beautiful finalists’ photos, I would never have thought that I would be the chosen one. What can I say—I am so, so happy.”

#7 Insect Category Winner: Jose Miguel Gallego Molina "Mantis Flamenca"

On my way back from my photo walk in a swamp near my town (Pantano el Sitjar), I suddenly stopped my car on the road when I saw someone ordering me to stop. This was when I saw my friend the Flemish Mantis for the first time. You can imagine the faces of the other cars passing by, seeing a car with the indicators on and the door open, stopped on the roadside and a madman lying on the ground with his camera in his hand.

Image credits: Jose Miguel Gallego Molina

#8 Reptile Category Winner: Eberhard Ehmke "Frog In A Balloon"

During a photo shoot at the pond I discovered this frog with its head in a bubble. This resembles a tree bell.

Image credits: Eberhard Ehmke

Marchetti won a once-in-a-lifetime safari in the Masai Mara, Kenya, with Alex Walker’s Serian. He also received a unique handmade trophy from the Wonder Workshop in Tanzania and a photography bag from Think TANK.

“We are thrilled to celebrate Milko Marchetti's outstanding achievement in the Nikon Comedy Photography Awards 2024. His image, 'Stuck Squirrel,' brilliantly captures the playful and unpredictable moments that make nature so enchanting. This year's competition received a record number of entries, each one a testament to the power of photography in evoking emotion. We look forward to continuing to inspire the next generation of wildlife photographers through these wonderful awards,” said Stefan Maier, the senior general manager of marketing at Nikon Europe.

#9 Highly Commended: Andy Rouse "Alright Mate, Back Off. This Is My Bird"

This image was taken in South Georgia, it really does show a male king penguin trying to make a move on a female who has already paired up with her male. The body position and wing posture make the message clear - "back off!"

Image credits: Andy Rouse

#10 Highly Commended: Marti Phillips "Are You Kidding"

Two Cape Fur seals having a laugh

Image credits: Marti Phillips

There were 9 other category winners, including Australian Kingston Tam who won the Nikon Young Photographer Award (25 and under) for a close-up of a frog smiling at the camera. Meanwhile, Sarthak Ranganadhan won the Nikon Junior Category (16 and under).

The Portfolio Category winner is 10-year-old Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb, from Southampton. He is the youngest category winner ever.

#11 Highly Commended: Arvind Mohandas "The Contemplative Chimpanzee"

Shot in the jungles of Uganda, following a group of around 50 chimpanzees. This one was obviously comtemplating an important issue, on a day of realization and reaffirmation of how close chimpanzees are to humans!

Image credits: Arvind Mohandas

#12 Highly Commended: Randy Herman "You're Not My Mother"

This female Red-bellied Woodpecker had been investigating this Screech Owl nest for a couple of days; perhaps it was her nest last year? This little owlet was definitely startled, and didn't seem to know what to make of this intruder. The woodpecker moved on, and the owlet fledged with its two siblings about an hour late

Image credits: Randy Herman

Jose Miguel Gallego Molina won the Insect Award. Eberhard Ehmke came out on top in the Reptile Category. Damyan Petkov was the best photographer in the Bird Category. Przemyslaw Jakubczyk won the Fish and Other Aquatic Animals Category.

Tapani Linnanmäki was announced the winner of the Affinity Photo 2 People’s Choice Award. Meanwhile, the Video Award went to Kevin Lohman.

#13 Nikon Junior Photographer Category Winner: Sarthak Ranganadhan "Smooching Owlets"

Our parents always find a way to embarrass us, I guess that's also true in the case of spotted owlets. It was truly a funny sight to see two owlets trying to get some privacy as their little offspring stood next to them with a grin shut eyes

Image credits: Sarthak Ranganadhan

#14 Nikon Young Photographer Category Winner: Kingston Tam "Awkward Smiley Frog"

I’ve always been interested in photography since I was about 10. And I started out just taking snapshots of little things like flowers, pretty skies on my cousin’s point and shoot, just like any other 10 year old would. When I was about 16, I got super interested in star trail photography and started doing it on the Nikon p900 since it has a star trail mode for dummies. Slowly, it evolved to proper wide angle landscape and astrophotography (Milky Way and deep sky) and that’s when I invested in a bit of gear and really dived into learning about the technical and creative side of photography, trying to do better every time I go out shooting. I also decided to pick up photography for my high school art class and dabbled in some street photography. In 2022 I moved to Australia from Hong Kong to study wildlife science and my friends got me into ‘herping’ (looking for reptiles and amphibians in the wild) and through that, I met a bunch of amazing photographers who specialise in taking photos of these critters and I started doing it as well. And that’s how I ended up photographing critters. My goal for my images is to bring attention to our scaly or moist friends, showing that not only fluffy animals can be cute and beautiful. Ultimately, I wish my work could bring more conservation awareness to these amazing reptiles and amphibians, and that’s been my motivation to keep doing what I’m doing. This award is by far my biggest photography achievement yet. I never thought an accomplishment this scale would be achievable but I’m grateful that this photograph has been recognised by the judges and many others. This award would be a reminder to me that I should keep my passion up because someone out there appreciates my work and hopefully it can encourage people to show some love to not just the fluffy animals but also the slimy and scaly friends

Image credits: Kingston Tam

It’s always hard to choose the best among the best. Aside from the brilliant category winners, there were 10 entries that were recognized as Highly Commended Winners: Leslie McLeod, Andy Rouse, Randy Herman, Sanjay Patil, Takashi Kubo, Artur Stankiewicz, Ralph Robinson, Arvind Mohandas, Marti Phillips and Jan Piecha.

#15 Highly Commended: Sanjay Patil "The Rock Star"

Fan-throated lizards are found only in the Indian subcontinent, where they have evolved under the influence of changing climates. These lizards are colorful and belong to the category of reptiles. Female Lizards do not display fan as they do not have. Male lizards inflates its attractive neck pouch to attract the female in hot summer season. Here is the female lizard standing upright to escape the summer heat.

Image credits: Sanjay Patil

#16 Highly Commended: Takashi Kubo "Mafia Boss"

It looked like he was sucking a cigar, and he looked like a mafia boss.

Image credits: Takashi Kubo

Which of the winning photos made you chuckle the hardest, dear Pandas? Which images do you like the most from an artistic perspective?

Are you going to go see the finalist photos at the Oxo Gallery in London, in person? Do you plan on entering the contest next year?

What’s your relationship with photography like? We’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments.

#17 Portfolio Award Winner: Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb "Dancing To The Music, Rock Guitar, Roly Poly, Weight Lifting"

I first heard of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Award when my mum showed me last year's winner of a kangaroo playing air guitar. I thought it was quite funny. I got into photography when my mum gave me her Nikon D3000 camera when I was 5 years old. I have been using Nikon camera ever since. I love taking photos of all kind of animals: birds, foxes, spiders, butterflies, squirrels. Anything that catches my eyes. Anything that is beautiful. I won my first ever award coming third place in Bird Photography Of The Year (BPOTY) competition for Under 8 category when I was 6 years old with my Perching Seagull. I went on to win RSPCA Mobile Phone under 12 category in 2023 with my Weaving Spider Winning the Comedy Wildlife Portfolio Category would mean everything to me. It will be my third win. This is a big international competition and it is difficult and hard to win. I dream of being a winner and come home with a trophy in my hand. It would be my greatest achievement so far in my life, if I am the winner. I would so love to win! If I could photography anything at all, I would use the best Nikon camera ever to take a family of white fox in the snow with little cubs running and playing.

Image credits: Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb

#18 Highly Commended: Artur Stankiewicz "I'm Too Sexy For My Love"

One of the 'lazy' mornings we have decided to stop by the pool with hippos while in Mana Pools NP. My idea was to try and catch fighting hippos, yet, they all were quite peaceful. I have positioned on the bank, safely from the potential charge and waited. Some of them raised their heads in curiosity or when proximity to the other individuals was too close. Then I got this idea to catch the portrait with water plants decorating he head, It looked like the guy just got our of the hairdresser with a big smile on his face :)

Image credits: Artur Stankiewicz

#19 People's Choice Award Category Winner: Tapani Linnanmäki "Shake Ruffle Rattle And Roll"

In the picture, a white-tailed eagle is ruffling its feathers. The picture was taken with the Nikon Z9's autocapture feature. The camera is placed on top of the sea ice on top of a bag of nuts at the level of the ice. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this picture. There were more than ten funny poses and expressions in the photo series.

Image credits: Tapani Linnanmäki