Stunning images win Belfast Zoo photo competition

William Allen won first prize in the best black and white picture category for 'Grant's zebras'

The residents of Belfast Zoo have been enjoying a photo shoot, courtesy of some eager beavers keen to win kudos for their camera skills.

The winners of Belfast Zoo's annual photographic competition have been announced.

Mervyn Marshall won first prize in the 'best picture taken by a zoo visitor' category for 'Turquoise dwarf gecko'

The competition, which has been running for 34 years, is aimed at budding and amateur photographers.

Alexander Allen won best picture taken by an under 16 for 'Chestnut-backed thrush'

Fiona Beattie won second prize in the best black and white picture category for 'Western lowland gorilla'

Zoo manager Alyn Cairns said the judges had been "stunned" by the standard of the submissions.

Ms Cairns said the zoo had received almost double the amount of submissions this year - with more than 650 entries.

Gemma Vennard won best funny caption with 'Some mothers do 'av 'em'

Ralph McCullagh won second prize in the 'best picture of our primate heroes' category for 'ring-tailed lemurs'

Zoo visitor Marina Kulakova received a highly commended for her picture of a meerkat

"This year we even introduced a new category to challenge visitors to get some snaps of our most endangered primates," she added.

"We were astounded by the number of species represented in the competition from the tiny pygmy marmoset to Tina the elephant."

William Allen won first prize in the best picture of our primate heroes category for 'golden lion tamarin'

Joe Beattie won best picture taken by a club photographer for his red panda photograph

William Allen received a highly commended for his black and white picture of an Asian elephant