Hilarious and adorable animal photos from this year’s Comedy Wildlife Awards

Some of the cutest, weirdest and most comedic animal photographs and videos of the year have been released.

Perhaps an elephant covering an eye with his trunk, as if participating in a game of hide and seek, makes you gush. Or two birds face-to-face in close proximity, covering themselves with their wings as if to share a secret kiss away from prying eyes, could evoke a giggle.

Maybe two bears joking around make you chuckle. Or a green mantis seemingly posing like a model for a sexy photo shoot on a leaf makes you smile.

Diego Perez/Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

These scenes were all captured in creative images that made the final of the 2026 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards .

A heart-warming shortlist of 47 images and nine videos were selected from more than 10,000 submissions from 112 countries – the most entries in the annual competition’s 11-year history, according to organizers.

The light-hearted competition was created in 2015 in a bid to use humor to promote wildlife conservation.

Alison Tuck/Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Image of grass-covered gannet wins People’s Choice in Comedy Wildlife Awards

“The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards started very gently, somewhere out on the vast plains of the Serengeti,” competition co-founder Tom Sullam said in a statement. “What began as a small effort to raise awareness of wildlife conservation has grown into something far bigger than we ever imagined.”

“The competition is now truly global, and a decade or so on, we want to make it even bigger, funnier, and more far-reaching than ever,” he added. “We use humour to get people to feel empathy towards wildlife, and it’s that empathy that creates behavioural change for the better.”

Audun Rikardsen/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Incredible shortlisted images from Wildlife Photographer of the Year

If you want to look through all the hilarious and charming finalists, and pick your favorite, voting is now open for the STERNA People’s Choice Award .

The final winners, decided by a judging panel, will be announced at an awards night in London on December 8. Finalists’ works will then be exhibited until December 13.

Click through the gallery above to see a selection of the shortlisted images.

今年一些最可爱、最奇特、最搞笑的动物照片和视频已经发布。

或许，一头大象用鼻子遮住一只眼睛，仿佛在玩捉迷藏，会让你心生欢喜。又或许，两只鸟儿面对面，靠得很近，用翅膀遮住自己，仿佛要偷偷地亲吻，不让任何人看到，会让你忍俊不禁。

或许两只熊嬉闹的画面会让你发笑。又或许一只绿螳螂像模特一样在叶子上摆出性感写真，会让你会心一笑。

迭戈·佩雷斯/尼康喜剧野生动物奖

这些场景都被拍摄成创意照片，并入围了 2026 年尼康喜剧野生动物奖的决赛。

主办方表示，从来自 112 个国家的 10,000 多份参赛作品中，选出了 47 幅图片和 9 个视频，这是该年度比赛 11 年历史上参赛作品最多的一次。

这项轻松有趣的比赛于 2015 年创立，旨在利用幽默来促进野生动物保护。

艾莉森·塔克/尼康喜剧野生动物奖

一张草地上覆盖着塘鹅的照片赢得了喜剧野生动物奖的观众选择奖。

“喜剧野生动物摄影奖的起源非常低调，最初是在广袤的塞伦盖蒂平原上，”大赛联合创始人汤姆·苏拉姆在一份声明中表示。“最初只是为了提高人们对野生动物保护的意识而发起的一项小活动，如今已经发展成为远超我们想象的规模。”

“这项赛事如今已真正走向全球，十年过去了，我们希望它比以往任何时候都更加盛大、更加有趣、影响更加深远，”他补充道。“我们运用幽默来唤起人们对野生动物的同情心，而正是这种同情心促成了行为的积极改变。”

Audun Rikardsen/年度野生动物摄影师

入围年度野生动物摄影师大赛的精彩照片

如果你想浏览所有搞笑迷人的决赛选手，并选出你最喜欢的选手，STERNA 人民选择奖的投票现已开始。

最终获奖者将由评审团决定，并于12月8日在伦敦举行的颁奖晚会上公布。入围决赛的作品将展出至12月13日。

点击上方图库，查看部分入围图片。