Wildlife photographer Jennifer Hadley snagged the top prize in the 2022 Comedy Wildlife Photography competition. The above image, titled 'Not so cat-like reflexes' was declared the overall winner for 2022. You can go ahead and laugh; the cub was okay. Hadley was in Tanzania and saw two lion cubs in a tree. One was acting like he wanted to get down, but didn't know how. He found a way. You can see the entire sequence of photos here.
After much agonizing he went for it and hilarity ensued. There was a collective gasp as he fell but don’t worry, he landed on his feet and walked away unscathed, perhaps with just a bruised ego. I imagine him thinking, I hope no one saw that. Oh kitty, I got it all on camera.
We hope it was a learning experience for the cub. The same photograph also won Hadley the Alex Walker’s Serian Creatures of the Land Award. Hadley also won the Affinity Photo 2 People's Choice Award with this image entitled 'Talk to the Fin.'
You can see all the award winners and highly commended photos, too, in this year's winner's gallery.