Gorilla “high five” photo takes top prize in the 2025 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

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 gorilla photograph, “High Five.”

Selected from just under 10,000 entries across 108 countries — with absolutely no AI or digital manipulation allowed — 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. “After reaching the finals last year, I’m absolutely delighted to have gone one step further and win the competition this year,” he said.

One of Mark’s long-held ambitions is to photograph big cats on the open plains of Africa, and his prize brings him a step closer. He won a safari in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve with Alex Walker’s Serian, where lions, leopards and cheetahs still roam freely.

While the images may be funny, humour is also a way into conversations about conservation. Each year, 10% of the competition’s profits are donated to the Whitley Fund for Nature’s Next Gen initiative, supporting conservationists across the Global South. Over thirty years, the fund has channelled £24 million to 220 conservation leaders in 80 countries.

The competition also recognises category winners, from junior photographers to video creators. We’ve highlighted a selection below — and in many of the moments, we recognise a little of ourselves, or those closest to us.

Grayson Bell from the USA won both the Nikon Junior Photographer Award 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.

“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!” said Grayson.

Paula Rustemeier from Germany won the Nikon Young Photographer category with her playful foxes called “Hit the dance floor.” Paula receives a Z6III and 24-120mm kit from Nikon.

“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 behaviour. I saw them fight, hunt, sleep, groom – and of course play, which is always my favourite to watch! You really have to giggle a lot watching foxes play with their quirky personalities,” said Paula.

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

“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!” said Tatjana.

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

“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 neighbour’s beak…Sometimes you just want to bite your neighbours head off..literally!” said Warren.

Maggie Hoffman from the USA won the Portfolio category with ‘Digging for Gold’, a series following a young female chimpanzee’s single-minded excavation.

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. The species is regarded as a national treasure in Japan.

“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,” said Annette.

”Smile – you’re being photographed” was taken by Valtteri Mulkahainen from Finland.

“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,” said Valtteri.

Overall winner Mark Meth-Cohn also received a Highly Commended for ‘Aaaaawa – mum’, another image from the same Rwanda trip.

Pick your favourite finalist and vote for the STERNA People’s Choice Award at www.comedywildlifephoto.com. The winner will be announced on 14 March 2026.