The 2025 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards put Mark Meth-Cohn’s “High Five”—a photograph of a young gorilla in Rwanda—at the top of the year’s funniest wildlife pictures. It also won the Mammals Category. The next edition’s finalists are now known, but the 2026 winners are scheduled to be announced on 8 December 2026.
Why these wildlife photos make us laugh
A perfectly timed tumble, a tilted head or an unexpected pose can look like a punchline when frozen in a photograph. The humor belongs partly to the viewer: captions that make an animal seem to wave, dance or pull a face are playful interpretations, not proof that it meant to perform for the camera.
The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards turns that split-second effect into an annual competition. Founded in 2015 by Paul Joynson-Hicks MBE and Tom Sullam, the awards connect wildlife photography and humor with conservation; Nikon became a partner in 2024. Nikon’s awards overview says 10% of competition profits go to Whitley Fund for Nature’s Next Gen initiative. That is a share of profits, not a stated donation from each individual entry.
The 2025 overall winner: a gorilla’s “High Five”
British photographer Mark Meth-Cohn’s “High Five” shows a young gorilla in Rwanda, and it took both the overall award and the Mammals Category. In Nikon’s account, Meth-Cohn observed young males playing and showing off. He said, “One young male was especially keen to show off his acrobatic flair, pirouetting, tumbling and high kicking.” The image’s comic effect comes from the captured gesture and how people read it, rather than evidence of a deliberate greeting to the photographer.
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Meth-Cohn also put the appeal of the competition in simple terms: “The smile factor is just as important as the wow factor.” Nikon reported that the 2025 edition received more than 10,000 entries from 109 countries and shortlisted 44 entries, including videos. Nikon’s 2025 winners coverage identifies the winning image and category results.
Other 2025 winners: foxes, seabirds, fish and a surfing heron
The winning selection was not limited to mammals or still photographs. Nikon’s 2025 results included young foxes, a guillemot, a fish and a toad, as well as a chimpanzee portfolio and a video of a heron surfing. Those different subjects and formats give the awards their range: one image may turn on a fleeting expression, while another gets its humor from movement or a sequence of behavior.
See the competition’s full 2025 winners list for the named category recipients and selected images.
2026 finalists are announced; the winners are still to come
The editions should not be confused: the 2025 winners have been announced, while the 2026 competition is at the finalist stage. Nikon says the 2026 winners will be revealed on 8 December 2026. Digital Camera World reported that the 2026 finalist edition drew more than 10,000 entries from 112 countries; that figure belongs to 2026, not the 2025 contest. Its 1 October 2026 report covers the finalists and entry total.
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How the competition describes image authenticity
The 2025 finalist announcement said entries had to be authentic photographs and that AI or digital manipulation could not be used to create them. That is the competition’s stated submission rule; it should not be taken as a general guarantee about every funny wildlife image shared online. The finalist announcement also discusses the awards’ conservation connection.
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