Dancing gorilla wins Comedy Wildlife Awards top prize for 2025

Competition open to photographers around the world is held annually to help spread the message of conservation

High Five by Mark Meth-Cohn, which shows a dancing gorilla shot in the Virunga Mountains of East Africa, has won the top prize at the 2025 Comedy Wildlife Awards. Photo: Mark Math-Cohn / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards.

Baptism of the unwilling convert by Grayson Bell won the Reptiles, Amphibian and Insect, as well as the under-16 Junior Award. Photo: Grayson Bell / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Smiley by Jenny Stock won in the Fish and Other Aquatic Species category. Photo: Jenny Stock / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Warren Price won in the Birds category, with his photo titled Headlock, which shows two guillemot seabirds caught in a territorial fight. Photo: Warren Price / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Paula Rustemeier's Hit The Dance Floor won the Nikon Young Photographer Category (Under 25). Photo: Paula Rustemeier / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Erkko Badermann's Landing gears down was named in the Highly Commended category. Photo: Erkko Badermann / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Annette Kirby's Go Away was named in the Highly Commended category. Photo: Annette Kirby / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Now, which direction is my nest by Alison Tuck was named in the Highly Commended category. Photo: Alison Tuck / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

I-Just-Can't-Wait-To-Be-King by Bret Saalwaechter was named in the Highly Commended category. Photo: Bret Saalwaechter / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Also in the Highly Commended category was this one titled Fonzies advertising by Liliana Luca. Photo: Liliana Luca / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Bad Hair Day by Christy Grinton was also named in the Highly Commended category. Photo: Christy Grinton / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Aaaaaww Mum by Mark Meth-Cohn was also named in the Highly Commended category. Photo: Mark Meth-Cohn / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Digging For Gold by Maggie Hoffman, which shows a young female chimpanzee picking her nose and eating it, also made it to the Highly Commended category. Photo: Maggie Hoffman / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Smile, you're being photographed by Valtteri Mulkahainen was also Highly Commended. Photo: Valtteri Mulkahainen / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Monkey Circus by Kalin Botev was also Highly Commended. Photo: Kalin Botev / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Also Highly Commended was The Choir by Meline Ellwanger. Photo: Meline Ellwanger / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

A gorilla skipping through a forest clearing in the Virunga Mountains in East Africa has won the top prize at this year's Comedy Wildlife Awards.

Held since 2015, the annual awards use humour to draw attention to and help raise funds for conservation efforts around the world.

The winning photo, titled High Five, was shot by amateur photographer Mark Meth-Cohn from the UK.

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"We spent four unforgettable days trekking through the misty Virunga Mountains in search of the gorilla families that call them home," he says of his photo. "On this particular day, we came across a large family group known as the Amahoro family, they were gathered in a forest clearing where the adults were calmly foraging while the youngsters were enthusiastically playing.

"One young male was especially keen to show off his acrobatic flair: pirouetting, tumbling and high kicking. Watching his performance was pure joy, and I’m thrilled to have captured his playful spirit in this image."

Warren Price, also from the UK, won in the Birds category, with his photo of two guillemot seabirds caught in a territorial fight.

Titled Headlock, the photo shows one bemused guillemot whose head is firmly clamped in his neighbour's beak. The birds are known to be fiercely territorial and often fight over nesting space.

Headlock by Warren Price won in the Birds category. Photo: Warren Price / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

In the Reptiles, Amphibian and Insect category, the winner was 13-year-old Grayson Bell from the US, whose photo shows two male frogs who look like one is trying to baptise the other. Titled Baptism of the Unwilling Convert, Bell shot the picture in 2023 while watching the two male frogs trying to establish their territories in a 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 realised how much I liked it. I showed it to my parents and they loved it too and it became one of my favourites," Bell says of the photo.

Bell also won the under-16 Junior Award for his photo.

Baptism of the unwilling convert by Grayson Bell. Photo: Grayson Bell / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Winners were also named for several categories including Mammals, Birds, Fish and Other Aquatic Species as well as Reptiles, Amphibians and Insects.

The Wildlife Comedy Awards are open to photographers around the world. Each year, the competition supports a sustainable conservation organisation, with prize winners handed their trophies at an awards ceremony in London.

This year's top prize winner received a one-week photographic safari holiday in Kenya, while category winners received photography kits from Nikon.