Air Guitar Roo has won the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

An air-guitar-playing kangaroo, a balletic otter and a topsy-turvy heron have emerged victorious at this year's Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. In 1969, musician Joe Cocker etched his name in air-guitar history on the Woodstock stage, strumming With a Little Help From my Friends into oblivion. Now, a new contender for the air-guitar title has emerged: a small, grey kangaroo from Perth, Australia, captured in the act of a mid-strum by photographer Jason Moore. The photograph, aptly named Air Guitar Roo, was declared the overall winner of the 2023 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards this week, also bagging the prize for the Creatures of the Land category.

'Not many people are aware that kangaroos are typically docile and can be somewhat monotonous most of the time,' admits Moore. 'However, when I observed this Roo striking the air guitar pose, it instantly brought a smile to my face, and I was certain that I had captured something truly extraordinary. ' The image faced stiff competition from 5,300 submissions from 85 countries. Other category victors included Otter Kewk's photograph of 'an otter ballerina', where a smooth coated otter executes an impressive first-arabesque in Singapore, and Vittorio Ricci's image of a heron taking an unexpected plunge into a waterbody in Zimanga Private Game Reserve in South Africa.

Another double category triumph was achieved by young photographer Jacek Stankieicz, who clinched both the Junior Award and the People's Choice for his image of two greenfinches engaged in a dispute. The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, established in 2015 by photographers and conservationists Paul Joyson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, serve as a reminder of the diverse, vibrant and constantly surprising creatures that cohabit this planet with us. However, tales from the animal kingdom are not always uplifting: over the past 50 years, global wildlife populations have plummeted by nearly 70% on average. Increasingly frequent heatwaves, droughts and wildfires are also altering animal behaviours and escalating the likelihood of human-wildlife encounters. While this may seem like good news to those hoping to spot a kangaroo in their backyard, it also heightens the chances of conflict.