Comedy Wildlife Awards 2024 share nature's funny moments

Staking its claim as the funniest photography competition in the world – The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards has announced its winners for 2024, with Milko Marchetti announced as the overall winner of this year’s competition for his capture of a red squirrel stuck in a tree entitled Stuck Squirrel.

Over 9,000 images were entered in the competition, the highest number ever for the Awards in its ten-year history, from professional and amateur photographers vying for the top accolade of being the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year. 

Milko’s image was popular across the board with the judges, with his extraordinary capture of a red squirrel entering his hide in a tree and his legs at right angles to the trunk.

The scene was over in a flash, as Milko recalls: “I have taken many, many photographs of squirrels, in many situations over the years in Italy, but this one struck me as really funny and such a strange position, because it is that exact moment when the squirrel is detaching its back legs from the trunk to enter its hide. Whenever I show this image at the nature seminars at my local photography club, the audience always explode with raucous laughter, so I had to enter it!”

The competition was founded in 2015 by Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, both professional photographers and passionate conservationists to create a photography competition unlike any other, showcasing seriously funny images of the earth’s most amazing wildlife and raising awareness about conservation.   

As the overall competition winner, Milko bags a safari in the Masai Mara, Kenya, plus a unique handmade trophy from the Wonder Workshop in Tanzania and a bag from Think Tank.

Stefan Maier, Senior General Manager of Marketing at Nikon Europe, described Marchetti's image as brilliantly capturing the playful and unpredictable moments that make nature so enchanting.

There were nine other Category Winners, including the winner of the Nikon Young Photographer Award (25yrs and under), Kingston Tam from Australia, with a close up of a frog smiling at the camera.

You can see all the category winners below, along with a selection of the highly commended entries.

The winners and finalists will be exhibited in London, UK, from 11 -15 December at the Gallery@Oxo.