After revealing the finalists in October, the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards have now announced their 2025 winners — and the top prize goes to Mark Meth-Cohn for his brilliantly timed gorilla photograph, “High Five.”

Selected from a record-breaking 10,000 entries across 109 countries, the playful image captured the judges’ attention and also won the Mammals category.

The UK-based amateur wildlife photographer took the shot during a four-day trip to Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains. Reflecting on the win, he said:

”The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards are one of the major competitions of the year, easy to enter and fun but with a seriously committed underlying ethos and, after reaching the finals last year, I’m absolutely delighted to have gone one step further and win the competition this year.”

Mark’s words are a reminder that while the images may be funny, the humour is also a way to spark interest in wildlife — and open the door to conversations about conservation. In 2024, the awards donated 10% of their profits to the Whitley Fund for Nature, which helps grassroots conservationists safeguard threatened species and ecosystems in their own communities.

One of Mark’s long-held ambitions is to photograph big cats on the open plains of Africa. His prize – a safari in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve, a landscape where lions, leopards and cheetahs still roam freely – brings him a step closer to that dream. The trip is provided by Alex Walker’s Serian. Mark also received a handmade trophy from the Wonder Workshop in Tanzania and a photography bag from ThinkTANK.

Alongside the overall winner, the competition celebrates a mix of category champions, from junior photographers to video creators, each capturing a split-second of quirkiness that helps us connect with the animals we share the planet with. We’ve highlighted a few of our favourite category winners here, and in many of the moments below we recognise a little of ourselves, or those closest to us.

Grayson Bell from the USA won both the Nikon Junior Photographer Award (16 yrs and under) and the Reptiles, Amphibians and Insects category with his image “Baptism of an unwilling convert” – a close-up of two frogs wrestling in water. Grayson receives a Z50II camera and the NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR zoom lens from Nikon – perfect for future frog-related drama.

In the photographer’s words:

”This photo was taken in early spring of 2023. The male frogs all come out to start establishing territory in the pond. I took my camera and lay on my belly, watching them and taking shots. It wasn’t until I got back to the house and looked at the pictures that I saw this one and realized how much I liked it. I showed it to my parents and they loved it too and it became one of my favorites. We all thought it looked like one frog was trying to baptize the other!”

Paula Rustemeier from Germany took top honours in the Nikon Young Photographercategory (25 yrs and under) with her playful foxes called “Hit the dance floor.” Paula receives a Z6III and 24-120mm kit from Nikon.

In the photographer’s words:

”The photo was taken in a nature reserve. They don’t get hunted there and therefore are seen during the day as well…The best way I have found to photograph them, especially young ones, is just being present. If you put in the time, I found that the foxes usually get either curious or see you as something natural, not dangerous…The time with them taught me a lot about their social behavior. I saw them fight, hunt, sleep, groom – and of course play, which is always my favorite to watch! You really have to giggle a lot watching foxes play with their quirky personalities.”

Winner of the Nikon Video Clip category, Tatjana Epp, also from Germany, receives a ZR camera and a 24–70mm f/4 S lens from Nikon for her charming clip of a heron casually catching a wave — a finalist we highlighted in our shortlist announcement. The video was filmed in South Africa’s Kruger National Park in March 2025.

In the photographer’s words:

”At first we spotted the heron and didn’t notice that it was actually standing on the back of the hippo. A perfect shelter for him, because there were so many crocodiles around. So actually a really smart move! When the hippo started moving, the heron looked a bit irritated. He almost lost his balance. But the way how fast he got his balance back and how he really seemed to enjoy the ride was a once in a lifetime scene to witness!”

Warren Price from the UK won the popular ThinkTANK Bird Award category for his perfectly timed image “Headlock”.

In the photographer’s words:

”These guillemots were nesting on a small rocky cliff ledge where space was at a premium. The nests all crammed in close together which isn’t a good recipe for being good neighbours, as guillemots are fiercely territorial. Aggression and battles are frequent over nesting space and I captured this image of this bemused looking bridled guillemot, its head firmly clamped in his/her neighbours beak…Sometimes you just want to bite your neighbours head off..literally!”

Aside from the category winners, ten entries were recognised as Highly Commended.

This shot of a Steller’s Sea Eagle, titled ”Go away,” by Annette Kirby from Australia, was taken on the island of Hokkaido in Japan in February 2025. With fewer than 5,000 remaining in the wild, the Steller’s Sea Eagle is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. A female can weigh up to 9.5 kg, making it the heaviest eagle in the world. Their wingspan, which can reach up to 2.5 metres, is the largest of any living eagle. Affectionately considered to be a national treasure in Japan, the species is officially protected as a nationally important Natural Monument.

In the photographer’s words:

”A highlight was visiting Rausu on the Shiretoko Peninsula and Nemuro Strait, where the Steller’s Sea Eagles gather in the winter to fish from drift ice…It had a fish…and found a hole in the deep fresh snow. Other birds were flying above and as they came closer, I captured the look it gave them. There was no way it was parting with its catch. As it had made its intentions clear to other competitors, it stayed alert but managed to enjoy its catch.”

Another Highly Commended entry is ”Smile – you’re being photographed” by Valtteri Mulkahainen from Finland.

In the photographer’s words:

”When I was photographing bears, this one year old bear cub saw it and started smiling at me. Apparently he had already had to pose in front of photographers.”

Mark Meth-Cohn was also awarded a Highly Commended for his picture ‘Aaaaawa – mum’ showing a mother gorilla planting a kiss on her little one.

Voting is now open for the STERNA People’s Choice Award, giving everyone the chance to pick their favourite finalist from 2025. You can have your say at www.comedywildlifephoto.com until 1 March 2026. The winner will be announced on 14 March 2026.