A clumsy lion cub, a duo of stroppy penguins, and a sleepy hippo have taken out the top honours at this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
American photographer Jennifer Hadley was named the winner of the contest’s top two gongs for 2022 amongst fierce competition. Her photo ‘Not so cat-like reflexes’ depicting a lion cub losing its grip on a tree trunk saw her crowned overall winner, while her photograph ‘Talk to the Fin!’ featuring a penguin snubbing a fellow bird snapped up the People’s Choice gong.
“I think part of what makes this contest great is that most of these photos probably happen by complete accident and that was certainly the case with the lion cub falling out of the tree,” said Hadley of her winning photograph.
The gasp that came from her vehicle when the three-month-old cub fell from the tree was palatable, according to the photographer.
“No one expected this to happen and of course we were concerned for his safety but happily as cats do, he righted himself just in time and landed on all fours and ran off with his siblings,” said Hadley. “A happy ending for a hapless kitty who didn’t quite know how to get down from a tree.”
Judges selected the winning photographs from a pool of about 5000 photos spanning photographers from 85 countries. Overall winner Hadley walked away with a one-week Masai Mara safari prize, along with a handmade trophy.
Among the winning photos was one depicting the moment a heron looks as if it’s about to be gobbled up by a hippo (who is actually just having a yawn), and one showing a pair of photogenic triggerfish.
The awards were founded in 2015 by two photographers and conservationists Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, who wanted to highlight the importance of wildlife conservation by capturing some of the more fun and quirky moments in the wild.
The awards also support partner charity Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), which provides much-needed funds for conservation leaders in 80 countries across the globe.
Past winning subjects of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards include 2021’s golden silk monkey whose snap, titled ‘Ouch’, appears to depict the mammal in a painful predicament, and prior to this a moody turtle, captured in a photo that appears to show the reptile giving 2020 the bird.
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