Comedy Pet Photography contest winners announced: See the funny photos

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Pets and animal lovers rejoice: the annual Comedy Pet Photography winners have been announced for 2023, and the photo and video winners don’t disappoint.

The global awards, now in their fourth year, were created by Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, “to highlight the positive and vital role that pets have in our lives and to encourage engagement around animal welfare.”

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The contest calls on all pet and animal lovers to submit hilarious images and videos of their funny furry friends for a chance of winning the prestigious title of Comedy Pet Photographer of the Year.  The top prize winner gets $634 in cash (500 pounds), a camera bag and a trophy.

“This is still a very young competition in the whole scheme of things, but within a few short years we are already receiving some of the most uplifting, life affirming hilarious images of pets in the world!” Tom Sullam, Co-founder of the Comedy Pet Photo Awards, said. “We couldn’t be more excited to share these with you all. Pets have played a fundamental role during the covid years, and to be able to laugh out loud with these loveable creatures is the reason this competition exists!”

2023 Comedy Pet Photography Winners

The overall winner came from Michel Zoghzoghi with a photo of his two rescue kittens, Max and Alex, called “A life Changing Experience.” The video winner, “Cool Catch” by Emma Hay, can be seen in the video player at the top of this page.

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The Comedy Pet Photography Awards 2023 Michel Zoghzoghi Beirut Lebanon Title: A life changing event Animal: cats Location of shot: Lebanon

Zoghzoghi, whose photo also won the Best Cat Category, is a professional wildlife photographer from Beirut, Lebanon and has traveled the world taking photos of much bigger cats.

READ MORE: Watch: Man dresses up in realistic dog costume, gets taken for a walk

“Max and Alex form a lethally cute duo.  I had more fun and surprises taking photos of these two characters, than during my most adventurous wildlife photography trips,” he said. “I am extremely happy and proud to have won it as all the finalists were really outstanding and some of them made me laugh to tears. Pets are a very, very important part of our families and should be celebrated.”

Boudicca the ferret, whose owner is from Kyiv, Ukraine, took home top prize in the All Other Creatures category.

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The Comedy Pet Photography Awards 2023 Darya Zelentsova Amherst United States Title: The first outdoor walk Description: Tiny happy ferret Boudicca (only 2,5 month old!) enjoys her first outdoor walk. Animal: Boudicca The Ferret Location of shot: Amh

“Ferrets almost never win anything in major international photo contests, and I’m glad to promote them as amazing pets and models,” Boudicca’s owner Darya Zelentsova said. They are intelligent, cheerful, social little creatures with great personalities and overloading cuteness – when you have a ferret, you literally never stop smiling!”

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The people’s choice award went to Chris Porsz from the UK with his snap of a dog jumping in front of surprised onlookers in a park in New York.  “Barking” also took the top prize in the Dog Category.

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The Comedy Pet Photography Awards 2023, Chris Porsz,PETERBOROUGHUnited Kingdom Title: Barking!Animal: Border CollieLocation of shot: Union Sq, New York

“As an amateur street photographer, I have walked many, many miles and this is still my best and favourite photograph.  And it was one I nearly didn’t take.  But by some fluke, just as the owner of the dog threw the ball, I instinctively raised my camera and fired away,” Porsz said. “The dog was looking at the owner and then launched itself and flipped in mid-air to catch the ball. Out of the five images taken this was the magic shot which fortunately was in focus!”

Other winners include:

  • Pets Who Look Most Like Their Owner’s Category: Klaus-Peter Selzer with The Three Greys

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The Comedy Pet Photography Awards 2023Klaus-Peter Selzer66763 DillingenGermany Title: The three GreysDescription: Karin and her two dogs. Don’t they all look almost the same? …Animal: Afghan WindhoundsLocation of shot: Landstuhl, Germany

  • Junior Category: Monyque Macedo Dos Santos ‘Is it a seal or is it a dog?’

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The Comedy Pet Photography Awards 2023Thaís FerreiraBrasíliaBrazil Title: Is it a seal or a dog?Animal: The dogLocation of shot: BRASÍLIA, BRASIL.

The 2024 competition will be open for entries next year on the Comedy Pet Photo website at www.comedypetphoto.com.

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Relocated ‘nuisance’ bear travels nearly 1,000 miles, returns to national park

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Bear 609 (Submitted by Bill Stiver)

A bold black bear with a reputation for looting campsites and backpacks has wowed researchers once again.

Bear 609, a black bear in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, had to be relocated for exhibiting “food-conditioning behavior,” or what happens when bears get accustomed to eating food and garbage from people, explained Bill Stiver, a wildlife biologist for the park.

“We did try to do some things to prevent moving her the first year,” Stiver said. “We let her go back in the same location, and often it will put that fear of people in them, but she returned the next year, getting food out of fire rings and challenging people for their backpacks.”

National Park Service officials moved Bear 609 from Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Cherokee National Forest, about 45 or 50 miles from where she was caught. She was fitted with a GPS tracker before being released. 

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A view of the Cherokee National Forest from the west bound I-26 scenic overlook in Unicoi County, TN on August 04, 2016 (Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images)

From there, the bear “almost immediately” started traveling south, trekking through Georgia and South Carolina before circling around Asheville, North Carolina. She headed north from Asheville and reentered the national park, eventually making it within five or six miles of where she was caught on July 8.

READ MORE: Heartbreaking photos show whale migrated 3,000 miles despite broken spine

“Frankly, I thought she would just go back to where we caught her because a lot of bears do that,” Stiver said. “That circle around those few states was 300-400 miles.”

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Map showing Bear 609’s epic journey (submitted by Bill Stiver)

But Bear 609 wasn’t done with her travels yet. She turned south again and did an even bigger circle, about 450-500 miles through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.

She was even spotted at a shopping mall in Alpharetta, Georgia, where she was hit by a car. Still, she kept going, crossing major interstates and passing through urban areas.

“She just kind of never stopped moving,” Stiver said.

READ MORE: These animals are champions in this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

Now, her trackers believe she’s denned in Tennessee, back in Cherokee National Forest “about 20 miles from where we dropped her off.”

Stiver is one of the researchers for a three-year study tracking what happens to black bears when they’re relocated from the park. 

 Why she traveled as far as she did is still a mystery.

“As we’re doing this study we’ve seen a few bears make some very long distance moves, but this is by far the longest,” Stiver said.

Bear 609 is lucky: Stiver said about two-thirds of relocated bears die within four-five months. That’s why it’s so important to educate people on reducing human-bear conflicts and preventing them from getting to food and garbage.

Exploring Great Smoky Mountains National Park

A black bear searches for food along the Tennessee border at Newfound Gap on May 11, 2018 near Cherokee, North Carolina. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the Tennessee and North Carolina borders in the heart of the Appalachian Mounta

“When that happens obviously they’re more vulnerable to getting hit by cars, and they’re more vulnerable to hunting,” Stiver said.

Bearwise.org is a great resource for learning what to do — and what not to do — if you live or recreate in areas with bears, he said.

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