The year 2017 saw the emergence of an entirely new photography genre: Augmented Reality Wildlife Photography. Through Safari Central, people all over the world were able to become wildlife photographers without having to fly thousands of miles, crawl through swamps and wait for days before you could snap a photo of your favourite rare bird.

Here are our ten favourites!

1. photo finish

Perfect use of a street scene by Bridget Cohen. This photo conjures up stories: did she finish first ahead of the crowds, or last after most people have left? Is she competing with humans or other animals? This could be a still from a trailer for a new movie!

2. giraffe-leopard face off

Goofing around with animals never looked this great! Unathi unleashed some giraffe-onesie-envy here at Safari Central, it's now on our Christmas wish list!

3. high culture

If you would have asked us what the most unlikely instrument to be paired with an augmented reality animal would be, we still would not have been able to imagine a harp. Well done to Wenjun for expanding our minds!

4. the man in the mirror

The list would not be complete without the winner of our Augmented Reality Photographer of the Year Award! Paul Goldstein, wildlife photographer and judge in our competition, on the winning photo: "With any sort of almost April Fool’ style sorcery there has to be a degree of hoodwink, otherwise it is just puerile. This works for a number of reasons, firstly the scale is good, secondly the lady walking with the child appears to be engaged and therefore it made me look twice: the grail for any sort of gag. Too often poor execution ruins these sort of pictures and they just appear clumsy. Not this one. I also love the symmetry and would implore the Smithsonian to actually introduce another elephant into their ground floor display as soon as possible."

5. mani-pedi time

You can't go wrong with placing an animal in a human context, but this photo of Beby getting pampered at the nail lounge tops the category!

6. Analog meets digital

A completely unique entry: Kim Hodges places the Augmented Reality grizzly in watercolour artwork scene. A clash of analog and digital that is absolutely original.

7. only human

Exposed! An irreverent shot makes for some good laughs. Perfect selection of species: a grizzly seems made to be caught on the loo!

8. Perrrrrfect pitch

Another musical combo, the brass and Beby combination creates a great contrast. Stephen really timed this shot well, with Beby's eyes closing as if she is taking in some sweet soft tunes.

9. the leopard vending machine

Is this your photo? Mail us so we can credit you! info@internetofelephants.com

An AR mind is a joy forever! This mischievous composition has the black unicorns on our team grinning ear to ear.

10. Back to the grind

The rut of the commute... An emotion we can all relate to. Great scene set by our own data scientist Raff Mares.

Become an AR wildlife photographer yourself!

Take a photo with any of our six wildlife stars! Download Safari Central from the App Store or Google Play!

The ten best AR wildlife photos of 2017