The annual Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlight hilarious photos of animalsin the wild.The contest aims to raise awareness aboutwildlife conservation.The overall winning photo, entitled "Grab life by the..." and taken by Sarah Skinner, shows a young lion cub in a poorly aimed pounce.Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.The annualComedy Wildlife Photography Awards compile the most hilariously candid photos of animals in the wild, from dramatic facial expressions to perfectly timed coincidences.But the contest is about more than just silly photos. Founders Tom Sullam and Paul Joynson-Hicks started the competition to raise awareness about wildlife conservation. They hope the pictures encourage people to shop responsibly, be mindful of their water use, and speak out about environmental issuesin addition to making people laugh.This year's winners were chosen from a pool of 4,000 entries from 68 different countries and whittled down to 40 finalists. From there, a panel of judges determined the most hysterical winning photos.Here are the 19 funniest photos of animals taken this year. Captions have been condensed and edited for clarity.Highly Commended: "Chest Bump" by Thomas Mangelsen"It was impossible to know what the disagreement was about, but this king penguin and antarctic fur seal argued quite vocally for several minutes. The amazing thing is that the fur seal didn't use its considerable size advantage to put a quick end to the fight."Highly Commended: "Space Man" by Roie Galitz"This sweet little Japanese snow monkey ran around after he had rolled in the snow. 'I've got a space suit and a helmet and one day I'll fly the moon. But only when it's banana shaped!'"Highly Commended: "Waltz Gone Wrong" by Alastair Marsh"These two females were actually having a scrap with each other, clearly not happy with being close. People keep saying to me that the series of photos makes them look like they're doing the 'waltz' dance. This image always makes me smile given the pose!"Highly Commended: "Who would like a peanut' Squirrels at the University of Michigan" by Corey Seeman"Fox squirrels on an early spring day in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan. Got my little buddy in the cavity nest over in the Law Quad. I asked who would like a peanutI think he understood me!"Highly Commended: "Surfing ... South Atlantic Style!" by Elmar Weiss"A gentoo penguin jumping in front of a wave."Highly Commended: "Laid Back" by Thomas Mangelsen"This photograph is of a 10-month-old chimp named Gombe, grandson of a chimp that Jane Goodall studied and knew well. Gombe was leaning against his mother, Glitter. This image speaks to the similar behaviors between our closest relatives in the animal world."Highly Commended: "Warning: territory marking. Follow at your own risk" by Tilakraj Nagaraj"One beautiful Sunday morning, my family drove to Nairobi National Park. We came across a group of white rhinos walking together and grazing. While we were watching them, we saw an egret behind this rhino following it impatiently. Little did the egret know she would be rewarded with a surprise shower."Highly Commended: "Squirrel Wishes" by Geert Weggen"A red squirrel with dandelion seeds."Highly Commended: "Dancing ... yeah" by Martina Gebert"People think us Austrian marmots are shy inhabitants of the Alps. Eating herbs, living in caves and hibernating during winter. We do these things, but there is a secret life of marmots too! If no one is watching us we like to party."Highly Commended: "Inconspicuous" by Eric Keller"Either penguins are working on a new form of jet propulsion, or someone has a little gas. This penguin was standing in the water all by himself when the water started churning, then turned to splashing and then full eruption. When it was all done, the penguin looked around and carried on with the rest of his day."Highly Commended: "Deer' What Deer'" by Mike Rowe"Shooting the red deer rut in Richmond Park, I noticed this deer covered in bracken. It's not unusual for them to adorn themselves with bracken and grass, but this one's taken it to extremes."Highly Commended: "To be or not to be'" by Txema Garcia Laseca"This snow monkey was looking at me when I took this picture. I think that he thought, 'What an ugly guy!' He was taking a bath in the hot thermal water while the temperature outside was -15 degrees."Affinity Photo People's Choice Award: "Oh My" by Harry Walker"Unlike most other marine mammals, sea otters have no blubber and rely on exceptionally thick fur to keep warm. As the ability of the fur to repel water depends on utmost cleanliness, sea otters spend much of their time (while they are not sleeping or eating) grooming, offering photographers an unlimited number of anthropomorphic opportunities."Amazing Internet Portfolio Award: "First Comes Love ... Then Comes Marriage" by Elaine Kruer (part 1)"The four photos depict stages of courtship: bringing flowers, first kiss, joyful dancing, then ending with a wedding ceremony (tongue in cheek, obviously)."Amazing Internet Portfolio Award: "First Comes Love ... Then Comes Marriage" by Elaine Kruer (part 2)"First kiss."Amazing Internet Portfolio Award: "First Comes Love ... Then Comes Marriage" by Elaine Kruer (part 3)"Joyful dancing."Amazing Internet Portfolio Award: "First Comes Love ... Then Comes Marriage" by Elaine Kruer (part 4)"The wedding ceremony."Spectrum Photo Creatures in the Air Award: "Family disagreement" by Vlado Pirsa"A couple of birds have family disagreements."Creatures of the Land Award and Overall Winner: "Grab life by the..." by Sarah Skinner"As the heat started to rise, one of the two dominant adult male lions of the pride decided to move from his position to seek shade. As the male stood and started walking off, one of the young cubs who is blind in one eye ran toward the male, leaping up toward him. Rather than leaping onto his back as we expected, the cub's focus instead appeared to be directed toward the adult male's nether regions, with claws fully protracted! Fortunately for the cub and the male, he narrowly missed his 'crown jewels' and the male walked on, with all body parts unscathed!"Read more:50 stunning wildlife photos that will make you see animals in a whole new lightA Michigan deer infamous for sneaky photobombs ate a bride's bouquet during the couple's wedding photoshoot17 animals that have broken world records
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