THE curiosity, charm and quirky characteristics of the creatures at Cotswold Wildlife Park have been captured in its annual visitors' photography competition.

Families who have visited the park near Burford have been putting forward their best moments captured on camera and come up with an array of impressive shots from the Oxfordshire park.

Among those claiming tops spots in the competition were Kidlington resident Julie Dickson, who claimed second place for her photo 'Little Foot, Big Foot' featuring the pied wagtail and white rhino.

Other Oxfordshire runners up included Ben Flynn from Faringdon with his picture featuring Asiatic lioness Kanha yawning, as was Lauren Robbins from Oxford for her picture 'Feeding Time' featuring the Humboldt penguin.

This year's competition theme was Natural Instincts.

Cotswold Wildlife Park spokeswoman Debbie Ryan said: "We are delighted to announce the winner of our 2017 Photography Competition and the finalists/runners-up – three of whom are from Oxfordshire.

"There have been some really beautiful photos this year and the park is home to some of the rarest species in the world, which visitors managed to photograph for the competition.

"This included the critically endangered Rodrigues fruit bat, found only on the tiny island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean, and the Chinese crocodile lizard, described as a ' living fossil now on the brink of extinction'.

Top prize went to Wayne Bailey from Wiltshire, who took first place for the second year running.

Second place went to Ms Dickson from Kidlington and third place to Brenda Oakes from Warwickshire for her photo 'Hanging Around,' featuring the fruit bat.

Ms Ryan added: "A tender moment between a stunning pair of blue and yellow macaws has beaten more than 1,000 other entries to win the park's 2017 Photography Competition.

"Wayne becomes the first person in the competition's history to win first place two years in a row."