We've had a whole load of plastic and forest fire related doom and gloom from the natural world lately, haven't we? That's why the announcement of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards finalists has come just at the right time.
Contestants include two monkeys who have been caught in the act, a pair of zebras who have just heard he funniest joke of all time and a very shocked otter.
Giving us the comic relief we needed, the awards have given us a reminder of another reason we need to protect animals on at all costs.
Advert
The finalists are all obviously skilled in their field; on this occasion, it's the subject that's being judged.
Open to all photographers, professional or not, the competition is free to enter and applications are welcome from anywhere in the world.
So let's have a look at some of the contestants...
First up, we have a sassy macaque:
A baby chimp having a good old chill will always go down a treat.
Caught in the act there, pals...
This polar bear having a little upside down head in hands moment is an absolute mood:
What has this poor otter just seen?
You've had it mate...
As well as give us a laugh, the contest tries to highlight the issue of wildlife conservation in an engaging and positive way. The awards work with the Born Free Foundation to bring attention to the work they do and spread the word.
Advert
Paul Joynson-Hicks said: "Every year we do this competition, it gets more and more exciting seeing how people visualise the funny sides of wildlife in the wild.
"And each year we see a wider variety of species doing funny things, whether it's a very naughty penguin or dancing lions, a chillin' chimp or even bee-eaters having a shouting match - they're hysterical."
The website explains more about how it came to be, saying: "The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, ingeniously titled to avoid any confusion, was the result of two factors: Firstly, a need for a photography competition that was light hearted, upbeat, possibly unpretentious and mainly about wildlife doing funny things.
Advert
"Four years on and these objectives seem to have been met. Secondly, and way more importantly, this competition is about conservation."
You can see the rest of this year's finalists, as well as entrants from previous years, on the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards website.
Featured Image Credit: Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards