Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards: Wildlife conservation with a smile

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards (CWPA) was launched by photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam in 2015, with the aim to promote wildlife conservation with "seriously funny images of the Earth's most amazing wildlife." Charlie Davidson, of Newport News in the US state of Virginia, won a category prize for capturing a raccoon waking up after a night in a tree near his home.

The overall winner of this year's competition was Mark Fitzpatrick, with his photo taken off the coast of Lady Elliot Island in Queensland, Australia. Fitzpatrick said he was glad his photo was "giving people a laugh in what has been a difficult year for many, as well as helping spread an important conservation message."

The CWPA global competition, along with competition partner the Born Free Foundation, judges submissions in six categories. These include photos of animals that live on land, underwater shots and pictures of creatures that fly. Sally Lloyd-Jones caught this kingfisher flouting the local bylaws with its daily catch near Kirkcudbright, Scotland, and was recognized as a Highly Commended Winner.

Other categories include one for kids under the age of 16, a portfolio category and one for short video clips. In this shot, also recognized as a Highly Commended Winner, Ayala Fishaimer came across a fox cub playing with a shrew while traveling in Israel. She said the shrew appeared to be begging for its life, reminding her of the classic British children's story "The Gruffalo."

This year's CWPA message is about conservation at home, promoting environmental habits like adding plant boxes to windowsills to attract bees, shopping locally and avoiding long-haul flights — all actions that have defined this year of the COVID-19 pandemic. This photo of physically distancing parakeets in Sri Lanka was submitted by Petr Sochman, and was recognized as a Highly Commended Winner.

Roland Kranitz, of the western Hungarian town of Agfalva, was amused by this ground squirrel that appeared to be singing, noting in his submission that "she had a very nice voice." His photograph also charmed the public, who voted to give Kranitz the Affinity Photo People’s Choice Award.

This year's judging panel includes English TV presenter Kate Humble, actor and comedian Hugh Dennis, wildlife expert Will Travers and 17-year-old environmental activist Bella Lack. They will face a tough task in choosing the winner from among the 44 finalists, which include Tim Hearn's well-timed shot of a face-planting elephant calf in Namibia.

While on vacation at the Uluwatu Temple in Bali, southern Indonesia, Luis Marti came across this young macaque that appeared to be mugging for the camera. Not surprisingly, expressive primates featured in the submissions of several 2020 finalists, which can all be found at www.comedywildlifephoto.com. The 2021 competition opens on March 1.