14 of the most hilarious animal pics from this year's Comedy Wildlife Awards

Nikon’s annual Comedy Wildlife Awards are, and I know this will be hard to believe, a goldmine of hilarious animal pictures. Coming up on its ninth year, the competition, started by pro photogs Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, delivers the funny in stunning high-quality images of some of earth's most majestic creatures at their least majestic. From hard-rock kangaroos to owls that are just entirely over it, here are our pics for the funniest of the funny.

This little guy wanted to rock out with his pouch out, and it won Jason Moore the 2023 competition.

According to photographer John Blumenkamp, this Great Gray Owl struck pose after pose as if he knew he was having his picture taken, but between poses, he just couldn't be bothered.

“This picture was taken in the monkey forest in Ubud, Bali. This place is a crazy place where monkeys are king!" shares finalist Delphine Casimir of Belgium.

Apparently, this isn't a snowball awaiting a good hurling at a wayward little brother, this is a white grouse photographed by Jacques Poulard in Spitzberg.

This little fella looks ready for his close-up in an all-animal reboot of Scarface. Don't pretend you wouldn't watch.

What even is 'market price', I mean really.

OK, this looks to be a leopard, but still, that's a solid joke. And also, doesn't "I can't wait to be king" also mean "I can't wait for dad to die"?

The bird on the left there is getting the tea, for sure.

Can I get a banana for scale here, because if I had to guess, I'd say that's a telephone pole. Right?

Wendy Keveney has an amazing eye for comedy photography, but not so much for caption writing. Beside her image of a bird absolutely busting its beak, she simply wrote, "A white-winged dove appearing to fly head-on into a cholla cactus skeleton."

Australia really came to play in this competition, wracking up a pile of wins with its unique and often charming citizenry. Says photog Lara Mathews, "The mob was enjoying some morning sunshine when this joey decided to get silly and try his hand at boxing."

Israeli photographer Tsahi Finkelstein sees a "swamp turtle [that is] surprised and smiles at the dragonfly resting on its nose”, but I see a guy about to get a snack.

I've checked three times and, yes, this delightfully graceful picture of a dancing otter was take by someone named Otter. Singaporean photographer Otter Kwek to be precise, who won the Creatures Under the Sea Award for their image from this daring dance recital.

This article was originally published on July 2, 2024. It has since been updated.