It’s that wonderful time of the year again, dear Pandas! It’s a brand new season and the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have announced their finalists! The photos are fantastic and—in my personal opinion—possibly the best so far in the competition’s 7-year history. We hope they’ll make you laugh as much as they made us.

The shortlist is spectacular and we invite you to scroll down and have a look at all the best photos from the competition. Which photos do you personally think deserve to win the most, dear Pandas? Which ones made your day brighter? Let us know in the comments.

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards was founded way back in 2015 by professional photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam. They wanted to create a competition that focused on the lighter side of wildlife photography. What's more, they aimed to promote wildlife conservation through humor. Case in point, this year, they're supporting the 'Save Wild Orangutans' charity, which safeguards wild orangutans in and around Gunung Palung National Park in Borneo, by donating a tenth of their total net revenue.

Pssst, Pandas, when you're done upvoting the photos you liked the most, check out Bored Panda's earlier articles about the competition's previous finalists in 2020 and 2019.

More info: ComedyWildlifePhoto.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

#1 See Who Jumps High

Image credits: Chu han lin / Comedy wildlife photo

#2 I Guess Summer's Over

Image credits: John Speirs / Comedy wildlife photo

#3 Did I Say You Could Take My Picture?

Image credits: Patrick Dirlam / Comedy wildlife photo

The Category and Overall Winners of the competition will be announced on the 22nd of October, and I can't wait to see who takes the cake (and our hearts). In the meantime, the 2021 competition finalists will be exhibited at The Photography Show in Birmingham. So if any of you Pandas are in the UK and want to hear competition co-founder Tom talk about how everything got started, go ahead and give them a visit.

The finalists include 42 images, plus the Portfolio and Video category entries. 2021's shortlist showcases the biggest mix of animals seen in the competition so far. The Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards team notes that among the entries are a laughing vine snake from India, a trio of strutting Gentoo penguins on the beaches of the Falkland Islands, and a Kangaroo performing a picture-perfect Pavarotti impersonation in Australia.

In a press release, Paul, the co-founder of the competition, said that the team has been overwhelmed with the number and quality of the entries they received this year. A whopping 7k photos were submitted to the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards for consideration from every single corner of the globe.

#4 Time For School

Image credits: Chee Kee Teo / Comedy wildlife photo

#5 Laughing Snake

"Vine snakes are very commonly seen snakes in western ghats of India. When approached they show aggression by opening their mouth wide open. Nothing to scare of this beautiful harmless Vine snake.I was happy to find it and smiling and It looks like he was smiling back at me."

Image credits: Aditya Kshirsagar / Comedy wildlife photo

#6 Mr. Giggles

Image credits: Martina Novotna / Comedy wildlife photo

"It was an amazing turnout, especially given the impact of the pandemic. The huge number of images we receive every year illustrates the appetite there is to engage with conservation and reminds us that wildlife truly is incredible and hilarious and, we must do all we can to protect it," Paul said.

Members of the public are free to vote for their fave photos on the competition's website right until October 10. One lucky voter will even walk away with a brand-new iPad!

"Whittling down the list of photographs was harder than ever this year," said competition co-founder Tom. "There were so many funny pictures that had us laughing that we couldn't settle on a top 40—so we're releasing the top 42 instead! It was great to see a range of animals, from the incredibly rare to the humble pigeon." Tom added that the team can't wait to see what the public chooses as their favorite.

#7 The Butt Dunk / The Face Plant / The Shake Off / The Final Scratch

Image credits: Vicki Jauron / Comedy wildlife photo

#8 How Do You Get That Damn Window Open?

Image credits: Nicolas de VAULX / Comedy wildlife photo

#9 Dancing Away To Glory

Image credits: Sarosh Lodhi / Comedy wildlife photo

The photographer who took the overall best picture will win a one-week safari with Alex Walker's Serian in the Masai Mara, in Kenya, as well as a unique handmade trophy from the Art Garage in Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania.

A panel of experts will judge the finalists, and it's quite an impressive turnout! The panel includes wildlife photographers Daisy Gilardini, Tom Laman, and Will Burrand-Lucas, travel editor Neil Stevenson, TV presenter Kate Humble, actor and comedian Hugh Dennis, co-founder of The Born Free Foundation Will Travers OBE, Managing Director of Serif, developer of award sponsor Affinity Photo Ashley Hewson, ThinkTank's Simon Pollock, image expert Celina Dunlop, Amazing Internet's Andrew Skirrow, and Bella Lack, the "formidable ambassador for conservation."

#10 Flautist

Image credits: Roland Kranitz / Comedy wildlife photo

#11 Ninja Prairie Dog!

Image credits: Arthur Trevino / Comedy wildlife photo

#12 Ouch!

Image credits: Ken Jensen / Comedy wildlife photo

#13 Monday Morning Mood

"I took this shot while photographing a group of Pied starlings perched in a tree at the Rietvlei Nature Reserve in South Africa. It perfectly sums up my mood on most Monday mornings :)"

Image credits: Andrew Mayes / Comedy wildlife photo

#14 Let's Dance

Image credits: Andy Parkinson / Comedy wildlife photo

#15 The Baboon Who Feels Like A Tenor

Image credits: Clemence Guinard / Comedy wildlife photo

#16 Majestic And Graceful Bald Eagle

Image credits: David Eppley / Comedy wildlife photo

#17 Attitude!!

"Males of these species of lizard chooses higher elevations to monitor their territory and display. Caught this perticular male roosting on the twing of bush during high heat summer."