A STUNNING photograph taken at Colchester Zoo has been crowned the winner of an annual social media competition.
Zookeepers from across the continent shared their favourite animal photos of the year as part of a competition run by Facebook page Zoo Keepers Europe.
The pictures were shared by keepers from zoos and wildlife parks all over the continent - including those in the UK, France and Denmark.
Harley McTiernan took the winning picture at Colchester Zoo, which showed a snap of Koro the banded iguana with flowers resting on his head.
Some of the other best entries from the UK included a shocked lemur from West Lothian, a baboon family from Knowsley, and a stunning snow leopard from the Scottish Highlands.
Other highlights include an adorable picture taken at Zoo de Beauval in central France, which shows the bond between chimpanzee parent and child, Domi and N'saka, and the eye of an African Elephant from Knuthenborg Safari Park in Denmark.
Zoo Keepers Europe, which has a whopping 14,500 members from across the continent, was started by Craig Holmes, 33, about ten years ago.
"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."
The competition has provided some light-hearted fun since 2021.
Craig added: "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."
"There's a really good variety this year."
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