PHOTOS: Finalists For The 2016 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards : The Two-WayA bear being fish-slapped. A decidedly not-regal eagle. An unfortunate buffalo/bird interaction.
A tough day at the office for this fox in Yellowstone National Park in December 2015.
Angela Bohlke/Barcroft Images
A snowy owl looks very content in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Edward Kopeschny/Barcroft Images
Portrait of an unfortunate buffalo in Meru National Park, Kenya, in July.
Tom Stables/Barcroft Images
Bighorn rams exhibiting attitudes during the rut, Gardiner, Mont., in December 2014.
Patricia Bauchman/Barcroft Images
A nosy bald eagle peeks out from behind the rocks to check out what photographer William Saunders is up to, Cordova, Ala.
Will Saunders/Barcroft Media
A pelican looks distraught as it drops a fish thrown to it by a fisherman in Kerkini Lake, Greece.
Nicholas De Vault /Barcroft Media
A mother and son leopard pair have a playful fight in Singita Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa, in May 2013.
Ross Couper/Barcroft Images
A bear appears to have wings growing from its head in September 2015.
Adam Parsons/Barcroft Images
This bataleur had been preening itself for three hours in the sun before taking off in Singita National Park, South Africa, in March 2013.
Ross Couper/Barcroft Images
A wild owl appears to be marching in a very serious manner, Lancashire, U.K., in June 2011.
Austin Thomas/Barcroft Images
This meerkat looks as though it just remembered it needed to be somewhere, Little Karoo, South Africa, in May 2015.
Brigitta Moser/Barcroft Images
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The 2016 finalists for the second annual Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have been announced, and they are predictably delightful.
A grinning owl. A fish slapping a bear in the face. An unfortunate interaction between a buffalo and a bird. At least two eagles with very little dignity. Click through the slideshow for a selection of the finalists.
The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards were established last year by a wildlife conservation organization. The group's website says it is "a photography competition that was light-hearted, upbeat, possibly unpretentious and mainly about wildlife doing funny things."
There are 18 rules and guidelines for entrants into the competition, which judges both the technical excellence of images and the hilarity of the accompanying caption (so make sure to read the captions in the slideshow).
Rule No. 6 for entrants begins, "You must have taken the picture yourself within the last 99 years."
Rule No. 8 limits the photos to wildlife, so no "pets, domestic, farm or captive animals."
And Rule No. 9 bans any major digital alterations, so the images haven't been Photoshopped to look funny.
The winners are expected to be announced next month. You can see all the finalists here, and last year's winners — including this blissful seal — right here.
