A headless penguin, ‘shark’ moose, and flying horse among Comedy Wildlife Photography Award finalists

"An American red fox casually walked up to the edge of the woods and sat down, then turned around and gave a wink. Moments later, this sly fox disappeared into the trees."

"This was shot on the Falkland Islands. These two gentoo penguins were hanging out on the beach when one shook himself off and gave his mate the snub."

"Most bear cubs do cub-like things like follow mom around, nurse, and be generally cute. But this cub took it to another level of cuteness. She found an eagle feather and started to play with it for a good 10 minutes. As she danced and rolled with the feather, she held it in her mouth for a moment as if she was thinking of what to write next. Cuteness overload!"

"A brown bear sniffing the flowers in Finland."

"We encountered this little chipmunk while climbing a mountain in June. When it noticed us approaching, instead of running away, it stood on the edge of a cliff and looked into the distance, then turned around to stare at us as if we had interrupted its meditation."

"A baby long-tailed macaque clings to its weary mother."

"When this Southern cassowary sat confidently down on a picnic blanket, it scared all of the picnickers away and started eating the fish and chips that were laid out before it."

"On a trip to a small town in India, we came across a pipe where we spotted an owl. The spotted owl came out of the pipe and looked straight at me. Before going back inside, he closed one of his eyes and winked."

"A brown bear peaking around a tree in Finland."

"This chick had grown old enough to take to the seas and fish for its own food."

"This picture of a Picasso triggerfish was taken in Marsa Shagra, Egypt. The fish just vomited the coral residues that it picked up while nibbling on the coral."

"This salmon decides to punch the bear in the face rather than be lunch." - John Chaney

"A monkey in Saudi Arabia laughing while calling to its children."

"This is two king penguins at Volunteer Point in the Falklands. The right hand bird has an inscrutable expression, wondering where its mate's head has gone." - Martin Grace

"The guillemots were arriving with fish for their young and seemed to just dive into the middle of the horde of young ones."

"A little owl hides in the chimney of a collapsed house in Bulgaria."

"This little black bear cub had a blast playing with a stick."

"Two black-headed gulls squabbling over territory during the breeding season, at RSPB Minsmere, Suffolk."

"The screech-owl chose to jump instead of flying."

A hippo yawning next to a heron standing on the back of another hippo. (Jean-Jacques Alcalay-Marcon)

"Is this bull moose smiling...or getting ready to attack!?"

"On an early morning trip to the Judean Lowlands in Israel, I found a lot of little owls standing on the ground, on stones, near the nest, and on tree branches. Suddenly, my eyes were caught by two fledgelings that were playing with each other on the ground. One of them crossed my field of vision. I started taking pictures in sequence and this is what came out."

"Three brown bears crowded together in Kuril Lake, Kamchatka, Russia."

"I was going to photograph this Eastern screech owl nest in a local park in Florida. One morning, a few days before the two owlets fledged, one owlet tried to squeeze into the nest hole with mom, maybe to see the outside world for the first time. The moment lasted only a few seconds as mom didn't seem very happy with the arrangement. Check out the expression on her face." - Mark Schocken

"A swan was in the middle of a fight with another swan, chasing it around on a frozen lake."

"These elephant seals were practicing their jousting skills before they collapsed in exhaustion. One looks to be resting far more comfortably than the other!"

"This duckling waddled across a turtle covered log at the Juanita wetlands. The duckling fell off after a few turtle crossings." - Ryan Sims

"Lappet-faced vultures on display in Kruger National Park, South Africa."

"I was following a group of meerkats on foot in the Kalahari Trails Game Reserve in South Africa. Most meercats, including the adults, were in a playful mood. It gave me a unique opportunity to capture very interesting and dynamic interactions between some members of the group. In this photo, there is no aggression between the meercats, but it reminded me of two friends pretending to strangle one another." - Emmanuel Do Linh San

"A zebra does a great impression of the 80s children's game Buck-a-roo. It also looks like its been fart-powered."

"A monkey in the city of Abha, Saudi Arabia, where it gathers and steals food from people."

"This three-month-old cub and his sibling were in a tree. The other lionesses were in other trees and on the ground. He wanted to get down and walked all over the branches looking for the right spot and finally just went for it. It was probably his first time in a tree and his descent didn't go so well. He was just fine though after landing on the ground. He got up and ran off with some other cubs." - Jennifer Hadley

"This is an Indian saras crane attacking a blue bull from behind. The bull happened to venture close to the crane's nest where it had laid a single egg. The saras crane, which is the tallest flying bird in the world, opened it's huge wings and attacked the bull from behind, driving the bull away from the nest." - Jagdeep Rajput

"Walking near a Cambodian temple where groups of wild monkeys lived, I came across this scene: a wild monkey totally relaxed, while its friend was taking care of it." - Federica Vinci

"A couple of triggerfish looking into the camera, captured at the Azores in Portugal. Even though they look funny, these fish can be quite aggressive. In this case they didn't attempt to bite me." - Arthur Telle Thiemann

A raccoon waving on a Florida beach. (Miroslav Srb)

"I spent a whole morning with this lion pride. One of the lionesses made some funny facial expressions after yawning. Luckily for me she looked straight into the camera for a moment and I caught this fake smile."

"After hearing Borneo's borders would reopen again in April 2022 I couldn't wait to visit and photograph some of the weird and wonderful wildlife on the island. After two years with no tourists it seemed like the wildlife was just as shocked to see me as I was to see them. This young proboscis monkey watched in amazement as I cruised by on the Kinabatangan River."

"Apart from its beauty, Cape Hillsborough is renowned for its resident kangaroos and wallabies. I visited the area for three consecutive sunrises, but it was on my final morning that I captured this beautiful spectacle: two wallabies playing/fighting on the beach as the sun burst through the surrounding clouds." - Michael Eastwell

A red squirrel jumps during a rainstorm, so you can see the drops flying around. (Alex Pansier)