Get out of the way! This year's Funny Wildlife Photography Awards are here!

Recently, the 2024 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards announced the finalists. Among these works, there are small fish chasing eagles, squirrels stuck at the door, charming hippos online courtship... We have selected some of the wonderful works. Come and take a look at the "stupid and cute" animals selected this year.

For ease of reading, we have simply grouped the works. The groups have nothing to do with the official ones.

Weird, take another look.

Many of the moments captured by the photographer have overturned our impressions of animals. For example:

When Zebras Fusion

Title: Wait Which Zebra Is In Front

Photographer: Sarosh Lodhi

Can you tell which zebra is in front and which is behind?

Role reversal

Title: Unexpected role swap

Photographer: Przemyslaw Jakubczyk Bydgoszcz

If one day, predators and prey switched roles...then you would see the scene above.

The photographer believes that every irritated and overtired fish needs to de-stress by hunting a vulture - and he has photos to prove his point.

This is what the Raptor looks like when it's not in business

Title: Shake, ruffle, rattle and roll!

Photographer: Tapani Linnanmäki

In the photo, this white-tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) is preening its feathers. The white-tailed sea eagle is the fourth largest raptor in the world, but this silly photo does not reflect its ferocity and lethality at all.

The photo was taken in Finland using the auto-capture feature of a camera placed on a bag of nuts on sea ice.

Charming hippopotamus, courting online

Title: I'm too sexy for my love

Photographer: Artur Stankiewicz

On a lazy morning, the photographer and his team went to Manapore National Park in Zimbabwe, hoping to capture some hippopotamus fighting each other. However, the hippos were not as aggressive as people imagined - on the contrary, they were extremely calm and peaceful.

A hippopotamus that had just been sculpted surfaced. Its head was decorated with green aquatic plants. It looked so confident as if it was ready for a blind date.

Hide and Seek

Title: Hide and Seek

Photographer: Leslie McLeod

The photographer stumbled upon this beautiful female cheetah, who was looking for a mate, while on a safari in Kenya. As she left messages to her male guest in different trees, a group of antelope (Damaliscus lunatus) kept a close eye on her not far away.

The fight is about to start!

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and the same is true in the animal world.

Stand back! She's my bird

Title: Alright Mate Back Off — This Is My Bird

Photographer: Andy Rouse

Emperor penguins practice monogamy, so when their mate is courted by another penguin, the male's body posture and flipper position clearly convey a message: "Back off! She's my bird!"

Do you think you're the only one who can roar?

Title: Nagging is a universal concept

Photographer: Scott Frier

The little lion, who was still breastfeeding, probably couldn't stand the nagging and roared at the male lion. The king of the forest seemed to be frightened and frowned.

How dare you slip away right under my nose?

Title: Where do you think you are going???

Photographer: Jörn Clausen

In the Farne Islands of the United Kingdom, you can see horned puffins (Fratercula corniculata), kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), European cormorants (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), cliff murres (Uria aalge) and razor-billed puffins (Alca torda) everywhere. The photographer said he took a lot of photos here, and when he looked back at the photos, he found this funny moment - the puffin on the right took a step forward, as if trying to run away, while the puffin on the left stared at it, as if saying, "Huh? Where do you want to run away?"

Animal Games

Listen to my command and get ready to fight

Title: Easy Fellas - Hajime!

Photographer: Philippe Ricordel

In judo matches, the referee says the word "Hajime" to invite the two parties to fight. In the photo, the standing polar bear seems to be giving the other two bears the order to fight, after all, it adopts the hand gesture of the referee when saying this word.

Speed ​​skating competition

Title: The Speed ​​Skater

Photographer: Mark Meth-Cohn

Next up was the speed skater from the Steller’s Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) team.

Most Steller's sea eagles breed along the eastern coast of Siberia and migrate south to Japan to hibernate when winter comes. In my country, Steller's sea eagles are first-class protected animals.

Four uses of branches

Title of work: Dancing To The Music, Rock guitar, Roly Poly, Weight Lifting

Photographer: Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb

Give the squirrel a branch and it can play all day. According to the photographer's interpretation, from left to right, from bottom to top: dancing to the music, rock guitar, tumbler, and weightlifting expert.

Some people laugh, some people worry

It's Monday again

Title: Monday, again?

Photographer: Christopher Arnold

This is not a capybara or a beaver, but a nutria (Myocastor coypus), busy grooming itself, grudgingly getting ready for Monday.

Thoughtful Chimpanzee

Title: The Contemplative Chimpanzee

Photographer: Arvind Mohandas

In the jungle of Uganda, the photographer found one of the more than 50 chimpanzees deep in thought. It gently stroked its chin, like a wise old man.

Leopard laugh

Title: Laughing out loud

Photographer: Ingo Hamann

The smile of this newborn seal pup is so contagious!

This is so funny, are you serious?

Title: Are You Kidding?

Photographer: Marti Phillips

A photographer captured two African fur sea lions (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) in what looked like a laugh at the moment in the Cape Cross Conservation Area in Namibia, Africa.

African fur sea lions are also known as Cape fur seals. Although the English word for seal is seal, they are not the seals we often talk about. The English word "seal" includes three families: Otariidae, Phocidae and Odobenidae.

African fur sea lions belong to the family of seals. Compared to true seals, they have external ear flaps, large front flippers, and rear flippers that are not connected to the pelvis and can rotate forward. These adaptations allow African fur sea lions to walk and run on land and to hear the direction of sounds in the air. Moreover, their swimming and maneuvering abilities are much better than true seals.

An estimated two million African fur sea lions inhabit the coast of southern Africa. However, their semi-aquatic lifestyle puts them at great risk from human-caused dangers such as fishing gear, boats, hunters and plastic pollution.

A shining debut

Gang of Four Appears

Title: Gang of Four

Photographer: Ralph Robinson

On the Penguin Highway, each gang member is full of personality, walks with a firm step, and looks like he is ready to start beating birds at any time.

Rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome), also known as crested yellow-browed penguins, return to Pebble Island in the Falkland Islands after foraging in the South Atlantic. The photographer was perched on the far side of the ridge with a telephoto lens so as not to disturb the penguins as they returned to their nests on the mountain.

Rock Star

Title: The Rock Star

Photographer: Sanjay Patil

The fan-throated lizard (Sitana ponticeriana) is found only on the Indian subcontinent. During the hot summer months, male lizards puff up their attractive fan-shaped neck pouches to attract females and deter rivals. This photo shows a female lizard standing upright to escape the summer heat. Although females do not have fan-shaped neck pouches, they look like rock stars.

Come and see the beautiful fan throat of males｜Biospot

Flamenco praying mantis

Title: Mantis flamenca

Photographer: Jose Miguel Gallego Molina

The photographer from Spain was driving home when someone suddenly told him to brake: "That was my first encounter with the Flamingo Mantis. There was a car on the road with its lights on and the door open, and a lunatic lying on the road with a camera in his hand, prostrating himself at the feet of a dancing mantis."

Mafia Boss

Title: Mafia Boss

Photographer: Takashi Kubo

This mafia boss is a species of the Petauristidae family, also known as flying cats or flying mice. In the photo, it looks like it is holding a cigar, and must be the most "cute" boss in Hokkaido.

Warm Moments

I have a little secret

Title: I'll Tell You A Secret.

Photographer: Jan Piecha

The little raccoon leaned close to his mother's ear and whispered.

Baby pendant on mother's tail

Title: Getting on, Holding on, Riding by tail, Surfing Mom

Photographer: John Mullineux

A single photograph can capture a moment of fun, but a group of photos can tell more stories. This group of photos records the whole process of a baby monkey following its mother's tail and climbing onto her back to surf.

How come you fell asleep?

Title: Time to cool off

Photographer: Zikri Teo

The Adélie penguin baby on the right is not actually tired and angry, but lying on the rocks to cool down. Penguin chicks have good insulation properties, and sometimes they overheat, so they stretch their feet out and lie on the rocks to cool down. The adult penguin standing next to it is probably its old father.

Parrotfish love bathing

Title: Parrotfish loves to be washed

Photographer: Wim Bellemans

The grinning fish in the photo belongs to the subfamily Scarinae and has just been cleaned by two smaller fish. Judging from its expression, it seems to be enjoying its bath.

Parrotfish are named for their teeth. Unlike other lipped fish, parrotfish have teeth densely embedded on the outer surface of the lower jawbone, forming a parrot-like beak. They use their "beak" to grab algae from corals and rocky bottoms, playing an important role in bioerosion.

Hiding Fish

Title: Peekaboo

Photographer: Alexander Fine

A small fish from the family Blenniidae is playing hide-and-seek with the photographer among the corals.

Sea Otter Meditation Masterclass Begins

Title: Otter Guru

Photographer: Charles Janson

On a kayak in California, the photographer floated lazily on the water with this sea otter and took a nap. Although there were people around, the sea otter still floated on its back and continued to comb its fur, indicating that it remained relaxed and not alert at all. Its peaceful face and raised paws reminded the photographer of a meditation instructor.

Bubble Frog

Title of work: Frog in in a balloon

Photographer: Eberhard Ehmke

While taking pictures by the pond, the photographer suddenly discovered a frog with its head in bubbles, which looked like small bells hanging on a Christmas tree.

So dangerous!

You are not my mother!

Title: You're not my mother!

Photographer: Randy Herman

The little horned owl in the picture was obviously frightened, staring blankly at the intruder, the red-bellied woodpecker. The little horned owl might be thinking: "This is not my mother!" About an hour after the woodpecker left, the little horned owl and its two brothers also flew away from the nest.

The photographer said the female red-bellied woodpecker had been investigating the horned owl nest for several days, and that this might be the same nest the woodpecker had made last year.

Stuck, stuck!

Title: Squirrerl blocked

Photographer: Milko Marchetti

The faceless little animal in the photo is actually a squirrel, and it got stuck in the doorway of its own tree! The photographer unceremoniously took a photo of its helpless hind legs and large tail in a protected area in Italy.

A failed landing

Title: Whiskered Tern crash on landing

Photographer: Damyan Petkov

A whiskered gull (Chlidonias hybrida) in Bulgaria hit its chin and neck hard when landing. Hopefully its cervical vertebrae are OK! Whiskered gulls mainly inhabit wetland ecosystems, where they build floating nests using aquatic plants.

These recorded funny moments allow us to see an unexpected side of animals and also let us get to know more of our distant friends on the earth.

References

[1] https://www.popsci.com/environment/2024-nikon-comedy-wildlife-awards/

[2] https://www.aquarium.co.za/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-south-africas-cape-fur-seals

[3] https://fanthroatedlizard.blogspot.com/2014/03/fan-throated-lizard-ftl-sitana.html

[4] https://www.comedywildlifephoto.com/gallery/finalists/2024_finalists.php

[5] https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanneshurvell/2024/09/25/nikon-comedy-wildlife-awards-2024--finalists-announced/

[6] https://theworldsrarestbirds.com/whiskered-tern/

Author: Bowl

Editor: Mai Mai