Cheeky lion pic tops 40-strong Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2019 shortlist

We all need a giggle from time to time, and thankfully the animal kingdom is on hand to put a smile on your face. They might not be the cuddliest creatures, but the animals pulling faces, causing mayhem and generally up to all sorts of pranks on the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2019 shortlist are guaranteed to lighten the mood, especially this year’s winner, which is a picture of a lion quite literally grabbing life by the, well, we’ll just let you see that one for yourself.

Speaking about her winning photo, Sarah Skinner says “I am absolutely delighted to be awarded the title as Overall Winner in the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2019. It certainly warms my heart to know that this image will spread some laughter and happiness around the world.

"I am happy to report that this lioness continues to thrive in the pride, having seen her again in October this year. I can only hope and encourage everyone, as a collective to each do our part in the conservation of all wildlife species, so that future generations can enjoy them, in the same way that I have done during my career as a wildlife photographer.

"Long may lions walk the plains..........”

This adorable otter was the winner of The Affinity Photo People’s Choice Award, voted for by the public. Clearly the otter is as surprised as the photographer must have been! It also picked up the Olympus Creatures Under the Water Award chosen by the judges.

Pirsa also picked up the Spectrum Photo Creatures of the Air Award for this bickering bunch of birds.

Now in its fourth year showing wildlife at its most wacky, the CWPA are also using this year’s competition to highlight an important message about conservation.

“Every year we do this competition, it gets more and more exciting seeing how people visualise the funny sides of wildlife in the wild,” says competition co-founder Paul Joynson-Hicks. “Of course, the other aspect of our funny competition is letting people know what they can do at home to be conservationists. Our planet is in distress, we all know that, now we just need to know what to do. Hopefully, we can provide a few small tips to get people started.”

They have three top tips on how to be a conservationist at home:

• Shop responsibly by avoiding un-recyclable products and one-use plastics/packaging.
• Restrict water use at home and have shorter showers, water your garden less and stop flushing the loo every single time (flushing the loo we sends about 20 litres of water down the drain!).
• Become a “wild influencer” and show off how much you really, really care about the environment

To pick up a copy of this year’s book, or for more ideas on how you can become a conservationist at home, head over towww.comedywildlifephoto.com.