A coiffured giraffe, an annoyed orangutan and some giggling seals among this year's Comedy Wildlife photo award finalists

American comedian WC Fields's quote is often misunderstood. Though most people think he said this because of how unpredictable animals can be, he really meant that they will almost always steal the show. 

But camera firm Nikon has decided to lean into this with the Comedy Wildlife Awards. 

Founded in 2015 by professional photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks MBE and Tom Sullam, this year saw more than 10,000 entries from 112 countries – the highest number in its history. 

Photographers whose works are featured in this year's finalists' list hail from countries all over the world, including Peru, India and Singapore. 

Several Britons have been lauded for their camerawork too. 

As fun as it is to giggle at animals in comedic situations, the awards were set up to promote wildlife conservation efforts. 

This year, the competition is supporting the Born Tree Foundation, an international charity dedicated to rescuing and protecting wild animals from exploitation and conserving threatened species and their natural habitats for generations to come.

Tom Sullam said: 'The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards started very gently, somewhere out on the vast plains of the Serengeti. What began as a small effort to raise awareness of wildlife conservation has grown into something far bigger than we ever imagined. 

'The competition is now truly global, and a decade or so on, we want to make it even bigger, funnier, and more far-reaching than ever. We use humour to get people to feel empathy towards wildlife, and it's that empathy that creates behavioural change for the better.'

'This is my best side', by Natalie Veekmans (Belgium): Two beavers in Ardennen, Belgium, who in Natalie's words 'seemed happy to pose for the camera'

'Morning calisthenics', by Scott Suriano (USA): This brown bear in Lake Clark, Alaska, appeared to begin her morning with some pretty rigorous exercises

'Little Godzilla', by Udo Harms (Germany): A small squirrel seen in Hannover, Germany, cuts a looming figure with some grass in its mouth 

'The different one', by Dirk Koster (Netherlands): The smallest of these giraffes in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, seems to be wearing an umbrella acacia tree as a hat!

'Sexy mantis', by Diego Perez (Peru): In Diego's eyes, the forelegs of this preying mantis snapped in the rural Camanti region of Peru appeared to be a pair of human legs

'Out of water', by Thong Duy Vu (Vietnam): This Garden Sunbird was seen cooling off in a bright red banana blossom, filled with water and sweet nectar

'Spicy Orangutan', by Tanner Mansell (USA): This orangutan found deep in the Borneo Jungle didn't take too kindly to being papped

'Two birds, one vision', by Lynn Emery (UK): This pair of Little Owls, seen in the Al Qudra desert in Dubai, have formed an optical illusion that makes it look like there is just one animal present

'#ForTheGram', by Rosie Barrett (UK): A brown bear in Finland seemed to strike a pose worthy of the showbiz sections of any newspaper

'The Ground Is Lava', by Robert Gondek (Poland): This Senegal Chameleon in Togo looks surprised to be caught out on the ground

'Exhausted Badger cub', by Lukas Andree Andersen (Sweden): A small badger cub was seen needing to take a breather on the floor of this Swedish forest 

'Just a gentle nudge... for traffic discipline', by Shaliza Singhal (India): A perspective tricks make it seem like the elephant, seen here in Kenya's Amboseli National Park, is dismissively kicking the car away 

'A Very Pressured Spadefish', by Kyo Chen (Taiwan): A whale shark can be seen looming over a tiny spadefish in the seas around Dumaguete in the Phillippines 

'Nature's Window', by Lee Frost (UK): A tiny Azure damselfly can be seen peering through a hole in a leaf in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

'If I can't see you', by Cliff Fawcett (UK): This shy elephant in Addo National Park, South Africa, uses its truck to cover its eye

'Sea Gangsters', by Marek Jackowski (Poland): These elephant seals on a South Georgia coast strike a pose

'Lessons', by Heather Cudworth (USA): This adult elephant appears to be scolding a youngster in Amboseli National Park in Kenya

'The Secret Kiss', by Jeetendra Chaware (India): A pair of blue-winged parakeets seen in south India seem to be coyly kissing each other 

'Oooh, that tickles...', by Doug Gimesy (Australia): These elephant seals on Macquarie Island in the Pacific Ocean gently play with each other 

'If I were just a little faster...', by Eric Boren (USA): This polar bear in Svalbard, Norway, longingly looks at this gull

'Fish-headed bird', by Eigil B Jensen (Norway): An ahinga in Los Chiles, Costa Rica, carries its prey in its mouth, making it look like an unholy amalgamation of the two animals

'Angry Bird', by Jan Wittmet (Germany): A furious-looking goldcrest looks straight into the lens in this photo taken in Helgoland, Germany 

'Doris with her hat', by Andy Rouse (UK): Rouse said this photo taken of a water buffalo in Sri Lanka looked like she was wearing a 'fancy bonnet'

'Push Over', by Barbara Seiberl-Stark (Austria): A lioness pushes her cub over in this photo taken in Zimbabwe 

'Zonkling', byCeline Nic Oireachtaigh (Ireland): One amongst this gaggle of greylag geese appears to be all tuckered out 

'Elvis', by Paolo Torre (Italy): This caiman in Brazil appears to be taking after The King himself 

'The leap he'll never forget', by David Lee (Singapore): A long-tailed macaque looks like he's got himself into a rather painful accident

'Fashion fades. Feather coats are forever', by Tapani Linnanmäki (Finland): A white-tailed eagle in Kustavi, Finland, struts its stuff

'Oops, I think I just parped', by Carolyn Moore (UK): An adorable brown hare in Wiltshire looks a little embarrassed 

'Ballet Dancer', by Robert Nairn (UK): A sparrowhawk in Dumfries, Scotland, gives the performance of a lifetime on this piece of moss

'Bears Sharing a joke', Charles Janson (USA): Two brown bears appear to be cracking each other up in Chinitna Bay, Alaska

'Hercules, the babboon', by Andy Parkinson (UK): A young olive babboon shows off its might in this photo taken in Mara North Conservancy, Kenya

'The Handstand', by Homagni Sahana (India): A leopard leaps down from its perch in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya

'Smile', by Marek Jackowski (Poland): This elephant seal flashes a big cheesy grin in South Georgia

'Hair Check Before the Family Photo', by Subi Sridharan (UK): One meerket appears to be preening another in this snap taken in Namibia

'Cheeky little elephant', by Hannah Dietl (Germany): A baby elephant pokes its head out of the grass in South Africa

'Resting Owl Face', by Ka Chum Jacky Sung (Hong Kong): This fuminng mountain scops-owl in Nanling National Forest Park, China, isn't best pleased by the peeping photographer

'Squirrel wars', by Remi Schnell (France): This red squirrel in France soars through the air