Is this the funniest animal picture ever?

Feast your eyes on some of the most amusing animal photos ever, as we unveil the winner of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2020. The competition is designed to raise awareness of the need for conservation, and it's run in association with Born Free. 

Competing against 7,000 entries, this year's overall winner was Mark Fitzpatrick for this rebellious turtle picture. "I was swimming with this turtle at Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef when he flipped me the bird!" said Fitzpatrick. His picture also won the 'Creatures under the water' award category. 

"It's been amazing to see the reaction to my photo of Terry the Turtle flipping the bird, with Terry giving people a laugh in what has been a difficult year for many, as well as helping spread an important conservation message," said Fitzpatrick. "Hopefully, Terry the Turtle can encourage more people to take a moment and think about how much our incredible wildlife depend on us and what we can do to help them. Flippers crossed that this award puts Terry in a better mood the next time I see him at Lady Elliot Island!”

We have also included category winners, highly commended and the finalists in this gallery, so go on and have a chortle at these amazing photos.

ALEX WALKER'S SERIAN CREATURES ON THE LAND AWARD

Charlie Davidson photographed this amusing racoon in Newport News, Virginia.

"The raccoon was just waking up and stretching. We have a raccoon in this tree every so often, sometimes for a night and sometimes for a month," said Davidson. 

SPECTRUM PHOTO CREATURES IN THE AIR AWARD

This azure damselfly, photographed by Tim Hearn in Devon, U.K., doesn't quite understand hide and seek. 

"As this Azure damselfly slowly woke up, he became aware of my presence," said Hern. "I was lined up to take a profile picture of his wings and body, but quite sensibly the damsel reacted to the human with the camera by putting the Marsh grass stem between me and it. I took the shot anyway. It was only later that I realised how characterful it was. And how much the damselfly looks like one of the muppets."

AFFINITY PHOTO PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD

Roland Kranitz photographed this sweet ground squirrel in Hungary. "It's like he was just 'singing' to me! She had a very nice voice," said Kranitz. 

THINK TANK PHOTO JUNIOR CATEGORY WINNER

Olin Rogers took this photo of a playful lion cub stalking his brother from atop a termite mound at Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.

AMAZING INTERNET PORTFOLIO AWARD

Daisy Gilardini shot this series of images at Lake Clark National Park, Alaska, United States. "A brown bear is lifting its leg to smell after a fart... then collapses," said Gilardini. 

HIGHLY COMMENDED

This smiley Mediterranean parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense) was photographed by Arturo Telle Thiemenn in El Hierro, Canary Islands.

"Among a group of parrot fish I saw this one, with a crooked mouth, looking like it was smiling," said Thiemenn. "I don't know if it was caused by a fishing hook, or just something hard that it tried to bite. I concentrated on it, and it took me several minutes until I got this frontal shot... and yes, it made my day!"

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Ayala Fishaimer photographed this curious conversation in Israel.

"I was came across a foxes den while I was traveling, looking for some nature, in the nearby fields. I spent an entire magical morning with four cute fox cubs. At some point I noticed that one of the cubs start sniffing around, and a seconds after, he pulled this shrew (which he probably hid there earlier) out of the sand and started playing with it," said Fishaimer. "After a while, the fox cub stood on the stone and threw the shrew in the air... the shrew landed in such a way that it seemed as if they were having a conversation, and he is asking the fox, 'Please don't kill me'. [It] actually reminded me of a Scene from 'The Gruffalo' story."

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Krisztina Scheeff photographed this greedy Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) in Scotland. 

"Atlantic Puffins are amazing flyers and their fishing talents are - well - as you see some do better than others!" said Scheeff. "I just love the second Puffin's look - can I just have one please?"

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Luis Burgueño photographed this funny scene between two southern elephant seals at Isla Escondida in Patagonia.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Megan Lorenz photographed these frisky pig-tailed macaques at Kinabatangan River in Borneo, Malaysia.

"While on a trip to Borneo, I had many opportunities to watch monkeys interacting with each other. These Pig-Tailed Macaques showed me a bit more than I bargained for!" said Lorenz. "Don't blame me... I just take the photos, I can't control the wildlife!"

HIGHLY COMMENDED

A rose-ringed parakeet needs some space at Kaudulla National Park, Sri Lanka. Photographed by Petr Sochman.

"This photo from January 2020 is the beginning of a scene which lasted approximately one minute and in which each of the birds used a foot to clean the partner's beak," said Sochman. "While the whole scene was very informative, this first photo with the male already holding his foot high in the air was just asking to be taken out of the context..."

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Sally Lloyd-Jones photographed this kingfisher who likes to break the rules in Kirkcudbright, U.K.

"I was hoping a Kingfisher would land on the 'No Fishing' sign but I was over the moon when it landed for several seconds with a fish," said Lloyd-Jones. "It then flew off with its catch. It appeared to be mocking the person who erected the sign!"

HIGHLY COMMENDED

This laidback sea lion was photographed by Sue Hollis in the Galapagos Islands.

"We were surprised to see that Sea Lions actively practice Yoga. Guess they need to get their Zen as well," said Hollis. 

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Thomas Vijayan captured these gray langurs (Semnopithecus) playing around in Kabini, India.

"Shooting the most common is the most challenging thing. Langurs are very common but waiting for a right movement is very challenging and needs lots of patience. Photography is not about quantity I consider it more of a quality and a story telling frame which can put a smile in someone’s heart," said Vijayan. "In 2014 I had made 15 trips to India in search of a perfect frame out of these trips. In one of the trips I could only get this frame and I am more than happy with this picture - a playful monkey with its family is a special frame for me."

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Yevhen Samuchenko photographed these adventurous langurs at Hampi, India.

"My friends and I walked in the center of the small town of Hampi in India. There was a bicycle parking nearby. Suddenly a flock of langurs jumped on these bicycles and began to frolic. We were afraid to frighten them away, [so] I started taking pictures from afar, but then we came very close to them and the langurs continued to play with [the] bicycles," said Samuchenko.

FINALIST

Brigitte Alcalay Marcon captured one of the most amusing photo bombs in the wild, at Etosha National Park, Namibia.

FINALIST

Who doesn't like a good gossip? Bernhard Esterer caught these lions in action in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa. 

FINALIST

We've all been there. Christina Holfelder snapped this gentoo penguin's well-timed event in the Falkland Islands.

FINALIST

Danielle D'Ermo photographed this common tern "tuning its wings" in Florida.

FINALIST

Eric Fisher met this friendly brown bear in Alaska.

FINALIST

Not all bears are as forthcoming, as Esa Ringbom discovered in Kuhmo, East Finland.

FINALIST

Femke van Willigen photographed this amused Eurasian red squirrel in Espelo, Netherlands.

FINALIST

Lockdown wasn't kind to our locks, as this reddish egret can sympathise with. This photo was shot by Gail Bisson in Fort De Soto, Florida.

FINALIST

Jacques Poulard captured this polar bear's head-in-hand moment in Spitzberg, Norway. 

FINALIST

An affectionate moment between Asian elephants, caught on camera by Jagdeep Rajput in Corbett National Park, India.

FINALIST

We're not sure we would be brave enough to play peekaboo with a royal bengal tiger, but that's just what Jagdeep Rajput did at Ranthambore National Park, India.

FINALIST

Jill Neff caught this racoon hanging out in Jackson, Ohio.

FINALIST

These curious young grizzly bears were photographed by Kay Kotzian in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

FINALIST

This seal certainly finds something funny! It was photographed having a laugh by Ken Crossan in Caithness, Scotland.

FINALIST

Kunal Gupta caught this wonderful moment between two elephants in Kaziranga, India.

FINALIST

This macaque in Uluwatu Temple, Bali is giving photographer Luis Martí­ its best pose. 

FINALIST

Asaf Sereth photographed these alert dwarf mongooses at Lake Bogoria, Kenya.

FINALIST

Manoj Shah photographed these hippos sharing a moment in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya.

FINALIST

Marcus Westberg photographed this fed up mountain gorilla in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Uganda.

FINALIST

Don't mind us! Martin Grace caught this cheeky chacma baboon at River Chobe, Botswana.

FINALIST

Max Teo photographed these smooth-coated otters in an uncomfortable hug in Singapore.

FINALIST

Mike Lessel photographed this shushing kestrel at Huntington Beach, California.

FINALIST

This eagle owl chick was photographed in Sakaka Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia by Nader Al-Shammari.

FINALIST

Pearl Kasparian photographed this penguin illustrating a point at Boulder's Beach, Cape Town, South Africa.

FINALIST

Photographer Ramesh Letchmanan celebrated with this snow monkey at Jigokudani Monkey Park, Japan. 

FINALIST

Ouch! Tim Hearn caught this African Elephant's faceplant in Namibia.

FINALIST

Vicki Jauron photographed this magical brown pelican at Fort Myers Beach, Florida.

FINALIST

Wei Ping Peng took this great photo of an uncomfortable snow monkey in Japan.

FINALIST

There's always one isn't there? Yarin Klein photographed this funny brown bear in Kuril Lake, Kamchatka, Russia.