Whether it’s a gorilla giving the middle finger or a hippo freaking out over a bunch of swarming birds, wild animals are more like humans than we think.
And just as hilarious, too, as proven by the photos submitted to the inaugural Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
Judges had to sift through 1,502 entries from 52 different countries to come up with the 45 recently announced finalists.
“I cant believe the incredible amount of entries we have achieved in our first year and from so many different countries, its very exciting indeed,” says Paul Joynson-Hicks, the founder and a wildlife photographer himself.
“Judging was incredibly hard as we had a lot of hilarious images to try and whittle down to the final 45. I think people have really enjoyed this competition, something a little bit different. It definitely exceeds our expectations for our inaugural year.”
According to the rules, all of the photos had to have been taken in the wild.
That means no domestic animals and no animals that live in zoos or other captive environments.
The next stage of judging will happen later this month, say organizers, with the winners due to be announced on November 11.
Prizes include photographic safaris in southern Tanzania and Nikon cameras.
Check out the above gallery for a few of our favorite finalists.
