Funny photos have judges howling like hyenas

Surfing penguins, a frowning bird, a pouting boxfish and a laughing lion have had the judges of The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2021 howling* like hyenas.

Now in its seventh year, the Comedy Wildlife Photography competition has already received thousands of entries from around the world of photographs capturing some of wildlife’s funniest moments on camera.

There is still a month until entries close but this year the judges have released some of their favourite entries so far to inspire both professional* and amateur* photographers to enter their photos too.

The competition was co-founded in 2015 by professional photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, who wanted to create a competition that focused on the lighter side of wildlife photography and would help promote the conservation of wildlife and habitats through humour.

Each year, the competition highlights a charity working to protect vulnerable species. This year, the competition is supporting Save Wild Orangutans, which helps keep wild orang-utans in and around Gunung Palung National Park, Borneo, Indonesia.

Paul Joynson-Hicks said: “A lot of wildlife shown in these images are facing threats to their populations and habitats that are heartbreaking. With this competition, we wanted to capture people’s attention and energy by giving them a giggle. In order to protect animals, we need people to fall in love with them.

“We think these wondrous shots show a side of wildlife that we don’t often get to see. They remind us of the beauty, and comedy, in our natural world that needs protecting.”

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2021 is free to enter. Photographers can enter up to 10 photos across the six categories, which include a category for juniors.

For more information visit comedywildlifephoto.com

GLOSSARY

• howling: laughing very hard
• professional: to make money, as a job
• amateur: as a hobby, rather than to make money

EXTRA READING

Meet the comedians in the animal kingdom

Balls of cuteness and other winning nature photos

No joke! Experts agree laughing is good for us

World’s wonderful wildlife on show

QUICK QUIZ

1. Name three animals mentioned in the first paragraph.
2. In what year was the competition first held?
3. Why did the founders start the competition?
4. Which species does the competition benefit this year?
5. Can children enter?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Pick a Winner
Which photos do you think should win? Choose the first, second and third prize photos. For each photo, write sentences explaining why you chose the photo and what makes it a good choice to win the place.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Communication Design, Visual Arts

2. Extension
Choose one of the photos. Imagine that it is an illustration for a story. Write the story.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

VCOP ACTIVITY
Animal Alliterations
With a partner, choose one of the pictures from the article.

Make a list of nouns you could use to name the animal in the picture. For example, instead of a tiger, you could also say cat, or feline.

Pick your favourite noun and identify its initial sound — what sound it starts with, not necessarily what letter.

Now, using the initial sound, make a list of adjectives to describe the animal. Try and be specific. Don’t just look at the animal as a whole, look at their different features as well.

Build on these same sound words, and add any verbs and adverbs you could use to describe the animal and their movements.

Try and put it all together and use as many same sound words in a sentence, to create an alliteration about the animal in the picture.

Example: the terrifying tiger, tiptoed through tangled trees chasing his prey.