Yorkshire Wildlife Park zookeeper joins colleagues to share best animal photographs

Ms Dooey’s shot was of a Polar Bear while Harley McTiernan took the winning picture at Colchester Zoo – a snap of Koro the banded iguana with flowers resting on his head.

Some of the UK’s best entries included a shocked lemur from West Lothian, a baboon family from Knowsley, and a stunning snow leopard from the Scottish Highlands.

One adorable picture taken at Zoo de Beauval in central France shows the bond between chimpanzee parent and child, Domi and N’saka.

Keepers from Knuthenborg Safari Park in Denmark were able to capture every detail of the eye of their African elephant in another stunning shot.

Craig Holmes, 33, started the Facebook page around ten years ago, and the competition has provided some light-hearted fun since 2021.

“The page was set up to be a support network for zookeepers around Europe to share their ideas, photos, and stories,” Craig said.

“Zookeepers tend to get really good photos because they work with the animals all the time – they get to see things that nobody else gets to see.

“A lot of zookeepers get into photography because they can get behind the scenes without any mesh in the way or any reflections captured in glass.

“We did another competition in 2021, and we still see memes being shared that use those photos!

“There must have been a few hundred photos posted this year.

“I liked the photo of a squirrel climbing up someone’s leg to grab their radio – that was a fun one.

“What I like about this year’s entries is that there’s a good mix of amusing photos and lovely pictures.”

He added: “There’s a really good variety this year.”