By Issy Ronald, CNN
(CNN) — An image of a 3-month-old lion cub falling out of a tree has been named the overall winner of this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
The moment was captured by Jennifer Hadley in the Serengeti, Tanzania, late one afternoon, and the image was fought off the competition from 5,000 other entries.
“It didn’t even occur to me that he would make a go of getting down by himself in the most un-cat like fashion. I mean, how often do cats fall out of trees?” Hadley said in a press release from the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
“No one expected this to happen and of course we were concerned for his safety but happily as cats do, he righted himself just in time and landed on all fours and ran off with his siblings. A happy ending for a happy kitty who didn’t t quite know how to get down from a tree.”
Hadley also won the Affinity Photo 2 People’s Choice Award for her image of a standoffish penguin snubbing his mate, titled “Talk to the Fin.”
As well as providing some light-hearted fun, organizers want to raise awareness around wildlife conservation. According to the press release, 10% of net revenue will be donated to the Whitley Fund for Nature — a UK charity that supports conservation leaders working in their home countries across the Global South.
A photo of two gray triggerfish smiling broadly for the camera won the Underwater Category Award for Arturo Telle Thiemann, while Jia Chen won the Amazing Internet Portfolio Award for her series of photos depicting a Cooper’s Hawk playing football with a pine cone in Canada.
The image of a serene heron oblivious to the wide jaws of a hippo yawning behind it won the Creatures of the Air Category Award for Jean Jacques Alcalay, and Arshdeep Singh won the Think Tank Photo Junior Category for his shot of an owl winking inside a pipe .
In addition to the category winners, there were 10 entries that were recognized as highly recommended winners.
In 2021, the overall winner of the competition was Ken Jensen’s picture of a monkey caught in a painful position on a wire.
The-CNN-Wire
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