High-fiving gorilla scoops first prize at Comedy Wildlife Awards

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN

London (CNN) — British photographer Mark Meth-Cohn had spent four days trekking through the Virunga mountains in Rwanda in search of gorillas when his patience and determination finally paid off.

There he encountered a young male gorilla who was keen to show off his dancing skills, something that Meth-Cohn captured on camera and which has now earned him the top prize in this year’s Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards.

In a press statement, Meth-Cohn said of his image, “High Five,” which also won the award for the mammals category: “One young male was especially keen to show off his acrobatic flair: pirouetting, tumbling, and high kicking. Watching his performance was pure joy, and I’m thrilled to have captured his playful spirit in this image.”

Organizers said it was a record-breaking year for the annual contest, which received more than 10,000 entries from 109 countries, with the winners announced at a ceremony in London on Tuesday night.

Judges whittled the entries down to a selection of 40, which were then put to a judging panel that selected the overall winner as well as the category winners.

The finalists were judged in seven categories, including ones for reptiles, insects and fish, as well as a section for younger photographers. There is also a People’s Choice Award, which is now open to a public vote on the competition website until March 1. A further 10 entrants were also highly commended.

Among the category winners was Grayson Bell, 13, from the United States, who won the Nikon Junior Photographer Award (for those aged 16 and under), as well as the Reptile, Amphibian and Insect Category with his image “Baptism of an unwilling convert,” showing two frogs wrestling in the water.

Paula Rustemeier, from Germany, won the Nikon Young Category (for photographers aged under 25) with a shot of playful foxes called “Hit the dance floor.”

“All of our category winners use joy, skills and imagination to capture the natural world, and Mark’s winning image perfectly represents the playful spirit of wildlife. At Nikon, we are incredibly proud to support these visual storytellers and provide them with the tools to share their unique perspectives, inspiring audiences everywhere to connect with and care for our planet’s remarkable wildlife,” said Stefan Maier, Nikon Europe senior general manager of marketing, in the press statement.

The winners are now on display, alongside the competition’s other finalists, at gallery@oxo in London until December 14.

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