upworthy

penguins

Science

The 15 funniest winners from the 2024 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Which one do you think is the funniest?

© Milko Marchetti/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024 and © Andy Rouse/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Two winners from the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards.

Once again, Upworthy is proud to share the winners of the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards, honoring the funniest in wildlife photography from around the globe. This year saw the largest number of entrants in the contest's 10-year history. Over 9,000 images were entered from professional and amateur photographers vying for the top prize. This year's winner is a hilarious shot of a red squirrel stuck in a tree trunk taken by Milko Marchetti of Italy.

“I have taken many, many photographs of squirrels in various situations over the years in Italy, but this one struck me as really funny and such a strange position. It captured the exact moment when the squirrel was detaching its back legs from the trunk to enter its hide. Whenever I show this image at the nature seminars at my local photography club, the audience always explodes with raucous laughter, so I had to enter it!” Marchetti said in a statement.

As the overall winner, Marchetti wins a once-in-a-lifetime safari in the Masai Mara, Kenya, with Alex Walker’s Serian.

"We are thrilled to celebrate Milko Marchetti's outstanding achievement in the Nikon Comedy Photography Awards 2024. His image, 'Stuck Squirrel,' brilliantly captures the playful and unpredictable moments that make nature so enchanting," Stefan Maier, Senior General Manager of Marketing at Nikon Europe, said in a statement. "This year's competition received a record number of entries, each one a testament to the power of photography in evoking emotion. We look forward to continuing to inspire the next generation of wildlife photographers through these wonderful awards."

The photo competition was started in 2015 by Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, professional photographers who wanted to promote the importance of conservation while enjoying some laughs at the same time.

Here are the big winners of this year's contest.

1. Overall Winner: "Stuck Squirrel" (red squirrel) by Milko Marchetti, Italy

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyThat's one stuck squirrel.© Milko Marchetti/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


"The photo was taken on April 23, 2022, in the Podere Pantaleone park in Bagnacavallo – Ravenna – Italy. It is a park open to the public and schools, but from October to March, it is closed to visitors, and I am allowed (in exchange for photographs for educational and promotional purposes) to use a fixed photographic hide to photograph passerines, woodpeckers, hawks, and even 3-4 squirrels that come to visit the photographic set consisting of a small lake, and the surrounding vegetation.Generally, in Italy, especially in the area where I live, in the Po Delta Regional Park, it is very difficult to see and photograph squirrels (they are very rare) but here in the park they are quite confident.

A few meters from the hide, an old cut tree has a hole (an old woodpecker's nest), and here the squirrels (2 years ago there were 4 specimens) sometimes come out of curiousity to check out the old hollow tree. have taken several photos of squirrels in many situations, but the shot I choose to participate in the Nikon Comedy Wildlife immediately struck me for the strange position assumed by the squirrel that seems to be stuck halfway in the hole in the tree, but in reality it is the moment in which it is detaching the support on its hind legs and enters the hole.

This photo had an effect on me and made me smile a lot in the moment that I clicked the button, and during my evenings of slideshows and nature videos that I often hold at photography clubs and theaters, the audience always explodes in energetic laughter when I show this photo. I knew I had to enter it into the competition." — Milko Marchetti

2. Insect Category Winner: "Mantis Flamenca" (mantis mediterranea) by Jose Miguel Gallego Molina, Spain

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyA dancing mantis.© Jose Miguel Gallego Molina/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


"On my way back from my photo walk in a swamp near my town (Pantano el Sitjar), I suddenly stopped my car on the road when I saw someone ordering me to stop. This was when I saw my friend, the Flemish Mantis, for the first time. You can imagine the faces of the other cars passing by, seeing a car with the indicators on and the door open, stopped on the roadside and a madman lying on the ground with his camera in his hand." — Jose Miguel Gallego Molina

3. Reptile Category Winner: "Frog in a Balloon" (frog) by Eberhard Ehmke, Germany

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyA frog stuck in a bubble of his own design.© Eberhard Ehmke/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


"During a photo shoot at the pond, I discovered this frog with its head in a bubble. This resembles a tree bell." — Eberhard Ehmke

4. Aquatic Animals Category Winner: "Unexpected Role Swap" (bald eagle and bream) by Przemyslaw Jakubczyk, Poland

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyA blad eagle appears to be chased by a fish.© Przemyslaw Jakubczyk/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


"Every annoyed and overtired fish needs to de-stress by hunting for a bald eagle." — Przemyslaw Jakubczyk

5. Bird Category Winner: "Whiskered Tern Crash on Landing" (whiskered tern) by Damyan Petkov, Bulgaria

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyA whiskered tern has a crash landing.© Damyan Petkov/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


"Whiskered tern head hit the rock when try to land." — Damyan Petkov

6. Nikon 16 and Under Junior Category Winner: "Smooching Owlets" (spotted owlets) by Sarthak Ranganadhan, India

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyOwlettes sharing a smooch.© Sarthak Ranganadhan/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


"Our parents always find a way toembarrass us, I guess that's also true in the case of spotted owlets. It was truly a funny sight to see two owlets trying to get some privacy as their little offspring stood next to them with a grin and shut eyes." — Sarthak Ranganadhan

7. Nikon Junior 25 and Under Category Winner: "Awkward Smiley Frog" (frog) by Kingston Tam, Australia

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photography© Kingston Tam/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


"I’ve always been interested in photography since I was about 10. And I started out just taking snapshots of little things like flowers, pretty skies on my cousin’s point and shoot, just like any other 10 year old would. When I was about 16, I got super interested in star trail photography and started doing it on the Nikon p900 since it has a star trail mode for dummies. Slowly, it evolved to proper wide angle landscape and astrophotography (Milky Way and deep sky) and that’s when I invested in a bit of gear and really dived into learning about the technical and creative side of photography, trying to do better every time I go out shooting. I also decided to pick up photography for my high school art class and dabbled in some street photography. In 2022 I moved to Australia from Hong Kong to study wildlife science and my friends got me into ‘herping’ (looking for reptiles and amphibians in the wild) and through that, I met a bunch of amazing photographers who specialise in taking photos of these critters and I started doing it as well. And that’s how I ended up photographing critters. My goal for my images is to bring attention to our scaly or moist friends, showing that not only fluffy animals can be cute and beautiful. Ultimately, I wish my work could bring more conservation awareness to these amazing reptiles and amphibians, and that’s been my motivation to keep doing what I’m doing.This award is by far my biggest photography achievement yet. I never thought an accomplishment this scale would be achievable but I’m grateful that this photograph has been recognised by the judges and many others. This award would be a reminder to me that I should keep my passion up because someone out there appreciates my work and hopefully it can encourage people to show some love to not just the fluffy animals but also the slimy and scaly friends." — Kingston Tam

8. People's Choice Category Winner: "Shake Ruffle Rattle and Roll" (white-tailed eagle) by Tapani Linnanmäki, Finland

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyThat's a very fluffy eagle.© Tapani Linnanmäki/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


"In the picture, a white-tailed eagle is ruffling its feathers. The picture was taken with the Nikon Z9's autocapture feature. The camera is placed on top of the sea ice on top of a bag of nuts at the level of the ice. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this picture. There were more than ten funny poses and expressions in the photo series." — Tapani Linnanmäki

9. Portfolio Category Winner: "Dancing To The Music, Rock Guitar, Roly Poly, Weight Lifting" (squirrel) by Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb, Britain

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyA rockin' squirrel.© Flynn Thaitanundei/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyA rockin' squirrel.© Flynn Thaitanundei/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyA rockin' squirrel.© Flynn Thaitanundei/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyA rockin' squirrel.© Flynn Thaitanundei/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


Highly Commended Winners

"Hide and Seek" (cheetah and topi) by Leslie McLeod, Kenya

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photographyThat topi is in for the shock of a lifetime.© Leslie McLeod/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


"Alright Mate Back Off, This is My Bird" (king penguin) by Andy Rouse, South Georgia

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photography"Back off, man!"© Andy Rouse/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


"You're Not My Mother" (screech owlet and red-bellied woodpecker) by Randy Herman, U.S.A.

comedy wildlife awards, funny animal photos, photography"Please don't peck my head."© Randy Herman/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024


For a full list of winners, visit Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards.

From Your Site Articles
comedy wildlife awards
Family

Two penguins who recently lost their partners seem to comfort one another in an iconic photo

Tobias Baumgaertner/Instagram

Forgive me as I wax rhapsodic about penguins, but this truly is just the sweetest thing.

Photographer Tobias Baumgaertner has captured hearts around the world with his photo of two fairy penguins, one with its flipper around the other, as they appear to stare at the lights of Melbourne, Australia across the water. At first glance, one might assume that Baumgaertner just got lucky, snapping the photo just as one penguin was stretching or something, but videos he shared on Instagram show how genuinely touching the moment really was.

According to BBC News, St Kilda Pier in Melbourne is home to a colony of around 1,400 fairy penguins, the world's smallest penguin species, and the population is monitored by volunteers. One of them approached Baumgaertner as he was shooting and told him that the white penguin was an elderly lady who had lost her partner and the younger male to the left had also.

"Since then they meet regularly comforting each other and standing together for hours watching the dancing lights of the nearby city," Baumgaertner wrote on Instagram. "I spend 3 full nights with this penguin colony until I was able to get this picture. Between not being able or allowed to use any lights and the tiny penguins continuously moving, rubbing their flippers on each other's backs and cleaning one another, it was really hard to get a shot but i got lucky during one beautiful moment."

"The way that these two lovebirds were caring for one another stood out from the entire colony," he wrote in another Instagram post. "While all the other penguins were sleeping or running around, those two seemed to just stand there and enjoy every second they had together, holding each other in their flippers and talking about penguin stuff."

The photo, which was actually taken in 2019, recently won the Community Choice award in Oceanographic magazine's Ocean Photograph Awards.

Baumgaertner also shared a video of the penguins, showing how close they were. However, he also shared a caveat about anthropomorphizing animals too much.

"I am a dreamer," he wrote. "I believe that it is important to have dreams as they make life worth living and give love meaning. I previously shared these penguin images to spread love because that, I believed, is what the world needed most right now. It was never intended to be scientifically accurate as it was quite obviously romanticized by adding my personal feelings of being separated from and longing for the one I can't live without. I wrote these words from the bottom of my heart and never expected so many people to connect with them.

Like with anything else in life too much of one thing has the potential to become dangerous and while we don't know what goes on in these little penguins I've been advised by the scientific community that anthropomorphizing animals can have a negative influence on them as it "can... lead to inappropriate behaviors towards wild animals". This is especially the case for animals living in such close proximity to the city as they are already dealing with various challenges. I have further been advised that these two could be related, ...the exact relation of these two is at this point probably hard to figure out but I am happy to hear that if they are not friends then they might at least be family.

Either way I believe that this was a truly beautiful and magical moment that spread so much love around the world. I also believe that humans protect what they can connect with and it acts as a reminder that we share this beautiful world with many other beings which come in various shapes and sizes, degrees of fluffiness and colors as well as with specific needs crucial for their survival. It presents us with just one of many reasons why we should protect the ones with no voice to stand up for themselves and most importantly it has shown us that if we care and come together we could change the world..."

Indeed, as the world reels from the widespread losses from the coronavirus pandemic, we need all the comfort we can get. If that comes in the form of a penguin photo that touches on the grief so many are experiencing and the connections that bring joy to our lives, so be it.

Several photos of the penguins are available for purchase on Baumgaertner's website.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
inspiration
Nature

Penguins in New Zealand repeatedly detained after showing 'complete disregard for police authority.'

Wellington District Police

Some animals have no respect for authority. Rogue penguins are disobeying the police in New Zealand, and they can't stop, won't stop.

Two little blue penguins were spotted at Sushi Bi near the Wellington railway station, allegedly trying to nest. The penguins had to cross through busy lanes of traffic running between the harbor and the sushi bar.

The dangerous duo was detained by the police, then released back into Wellington Harbour.

Using the 'dictionary definition of racism' defense is a sure sign you don't understand racism.

"The waddling vagrants were removed from their sushi stand refuge earlier today by Constable John Zhu," the police said. "Unsurprisingly, this was not the first report police had received about the fishy birds."

We're not sure if they were casing the joint or just out on a joy ride. Either way, these penguins were anything but scared straight by their run in with the law. The very next day, the penguins returnedto the scene of the crime and were spotted at Sushi Bi. Again, they were removed and put back in the harbor.

Sushi Bi employee Shawnee Kim said the penguins were "really cute" and tried feeding them salmon. They wouldn't eat the salmon, which means their crime spree isn't about stealing goods. Little blue penguins start looking for nests in July, and start breeding in August. It's likely these two were looking for a spot to get their nesting on.


Someone named 'Jeffrey' or 'Michael' is more likely to be a CEO than a woman.

The location is now being monitored just in case the penguins return to their wicked ways. Penguin recidivism is a problem, apparently. "It's a natural characteristic of the penguins - they will always return to where they possibly were nesting," Department of Conservation volunteer Mike Rumble said. Rumble helped with the removal of the penguin perps. "That's why here, tonight, even though this is a good 200m-300m away, I wouldn't be surprised if the owner of the sushi bar says 'they're back.'"

The appearance of these rogue penguins might be a good thing. The population of little blue penguins is starting to thrive due to recent conservation efforts. Not to mention, it's completely adorable.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Most Shared

Thrilling penguin news! Chile is killing an iron mine that would harm the waddly birds.

Ah, Chile. While not typically top of mind for the average American, the unassuming coastal strip has quietly become a sort of ... yang to our yin. The delicate floral sucking candy to our taste-bud-annihilating chocolate-caramel-peanut butter-sour-red-hot mouth bomb.

And, increasingly, they are the #RESIST window sticker to America's MAGA hat.

While the Trump administration rolls back LGBTQ protections, Chile's president is touting a marriage equality bill. While dozens of U.S. states are trying to regulate out as many Planned Parenthood clinics as the law will allow, Chilean lawmakers recently relaxed the country's abortion ban, which was one of the world's strictest (though their new law carves out several exceptions, the procedure is still largely banned in Chile, but still — progress!).

Now, the skinny South American nation is once again playing the U.S.'s bizarro world doppelganger — by siding with a bunch of penguins in a dispute with a mining company.

Photo by Martin Bernetti/Getty Images.

According to an AFP report, Chile recently killed a $2.5-billion iron-mining project to save the health (and, potentially, lives) of thousands of the waddly little birds.

The project was slated to be built just south of three islands where over 80% of the world's Humboldt penguins live and would include a port to ship iron all over the world. A review by 14 agencies found that the plan failed to sufficiently guarantee that the animals would not be affected.

"We are not against economic development or projects that are necessary for the country's growth, but they must offer adequate solutions for the impact they will have," Environment Minister Marcelo Mena told the AFP.

That's not just the polar opposite of what the U.S. would do. It's the polar opposite of what the U.S. government actually is doing.

Blowing up this mountain in Virginia to get at the coal underneath seems fine. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

In August, the Interior Department outlined a plan to prioritize oil extraction over efforts to protect the greater sage-grouse, a grassland bird that looks like the result of an unforgettable evening between a peacock, a porcupine, and a tarantula.

Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under President Trump, canceled an Obama-era rule designed to protect whales and sea turtles from fishing nets.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration wants to blow up mountaintops so badly they've stopped studying whether doing so is detrimental to the health and safety of animals — and human beings — that live nearby.

It's not just Chile stepping up either, at least where safeguarding the natural world we all share is concerned.

Just ask the 195 other countries that signed the Paris Climate Accord — which commits parties to holding the Earth's temperature rise below two degrees Celsius — that President Trump announced the U.S. would soon be leaving.

It all adds up to a pretty clear message: The rest of the world is getting with the program, while the U.S. government is sitting here, arms folded, hoping rare birds can adjust to a coal dust and jagged pebble diet.

Photo by Martin Bernetti/Getty Images.

Want the U.S. to get back on the bandwagon? You can let your elected representatives know how you feel and help out groups, like the Environmental Defense Fund, that are pushing back against regulation rollback.

In the meantime, thanks to their friends in Chile, a few thousand penguins are getting to celebrate the news of a lifetime. It may not be happening in the U-S-of-A, but it's a Hollywood ending all the same. (Anyone know how to say "Morgan Freeman" in Spanish?)

Trending Stories