The prestigious photography competition drew over 5,000 entries from across Asia, beating all previous records.
Biplab Hazra has been awarded the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017. His stunning yet disturbing image of an elephant and her calf trying to flee from mob in West Bengal's Bankura has won him the prestigious Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards.
This year, the competition drew over 5,000 entries from across Asia, beating all previous records.
The panel of judges including Bittu Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Asia; Steve Winter, National Geographic conservation photographer; Ganesh H Shanker, fine-art nature photographer; Kalyan Varma, conservation photographer and filmmaker; Dr Anish Andheria, conservation photographer and President, Wildlife Conservation Trust; Nayan Khanolkar, educationist, naturalist and wildlife photographer; Dr Parvish Pandya, Head, Science, Natural History and Photography, Sanctuary Asia and Lakshmy Raman, Executive Editor, Sanctuary Asia shared that they had a tough time choosing winners in several categories.
1. 'Forsaken'
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Joint Winner, Open Category, Creatures Great and Small is Milinda Wattegedara: This image titled 'Forsaken' is captured on the banks of the Buthawa tank in Yala National Park. The picture shows a deer struggling furiously and helplessly as a bask of crocodiles enter into a feeding frenzy.
2. ‘Last Port of Call’
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Sanctuary’s Young Photographer of the Year 2017 and Winner, Young Category, Conservation is Vishruth Cavale for this image titled ‘Last Port of Call’. The image shows a plastic crate in the Mangalore Port holding the lifeless body of a shark ray.
3. ‘Epomis Modus Operandi’
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Joint Winner, Open Category, Creatures Great and Small is Mahadev Suresh Bhise, for his image titled ‘Epomis Modus Operandi’.
4. ‘Hell is Here’
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Sanctuary’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 is Biplab Hazra for this stunning image titled ‘Hell is Here’. The disturbing, yet powerful photograph of an elephant and her calf trying to flee from mob in West Bengal's Bankura shows the cruelty of man-animal conflict.
5. 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place'
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Winner, Open Category, Conservation Photography is Anand Bora, for this image titled ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’. This image tells an inspirational story of a leopard that fell into a well in Nashik, Maharashtra, where it swam for an incredible 30 hours before being discovered, barely alive.
6. 'An Ephemeral Masterpiece'
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Winner, Open Category, Art in Nature is Abhishek Nandkishor Neelam Satam: This image captured by the winner in Chivla beach in Malwan in Maharashtra shows a starfish collaborating with pea crabs and sea shells leaving an imprint on the beach.
7. ‘Smoke on Water’
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Winner, Young Category, Art in Nature is Vishruth Cavale for his image titled ‘Smoke on Water’. The image shows mystic plumes of smoke seem to waft across the waters of a lake in Lalbagh, Bengaluru. But it wasn’t mists but an Egret that the photographer captured perfectly. However, by capturing the movement of these commonplace birds along the water’s edge in a milky smear, Cavale has made an enigmatic frame.
8. 'Three’s A Crowd'
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Winner, Young Category, Creatures Great and Small is Drishti Hoskote for this image titled ‘Three’s A Crowd’. The image magnificently captures a pair of peafowls staring at a slumbering leopard in Sri Lanka’s Yala National Park.
