Incredible images of wildlife captured on camera

Muscat: A total of 5,000 entries from across Asia were received by the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards, organised by Sanctuary Asia. It’s a conservation and environment-protection initiative established in 1981.
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On November 5, at a ceremony held in Mumbai, eight photographers were awarded prizes. “Hell is Here” by Biplab Hazra got the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 award.
As heat from burning tar balls scorches their skin, a mother elephant and her calf attempt to flee the mob. In the lead, the mother’s expansive ears are angled forward as she ignores the crowd of jeering men. Behind her, the calf screams in confusion and fear as the fire licks at her feet. Flaming tar balls and crackers fly through the air to a soundtrack of human laughter and shouts. In the Bankura district of West Bengal, this sort of humiliation of pachyderms is routine, as it is in the other elephant-range states of Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu, among others. — Biplab Hazra>
In the open category, art in nature: “An Ephemeral Masterpiece” by Abhishek Nandkishor Neelam Satam got the award.
On Chivla Beach in Malwan, Maharashtra, a starfish collaborates with pea crabs and sea shells to create a fleeting masterpiece that to be washed away by the tide.
In the open category, conservation photography: “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” by Anand Bora, won the prize
The 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.
The cat would undoubtedly have died had it not been for local villagers, who, once informed, swung instantly into action by alerting forest officials, and then pitched in to help them. At great risk to life and limb, using the remarkable ingenuity for which the people of rural India are renowned, villagers and officials worked in unison against all odds to save the leopard.
Joint winner in open category, creatures great and small was “Forsaken” by Milinda Wattegedara.
‘Death is inevitable’. A spotted deer struggles furiously and helplessly as a bask of crocodiles enter a feeding frenzy. It turns its eyes heavenwards, but seconds later, it is ripped to shreds by the ravenous reptiles. The acute desperation evident in this image captured on the banks of the Buthawa tank in Yala National Park is enough to trigger one’s fight-or-flight response.
In the young category, ‘nature in urbania: “Valparai Vagrant” by Sitara A Karthikeyan got the prize
Are our closest cousins getting too close for comfort? At a pitstop on the drive up to Valparai in the Anamalai Hills, Sitara, A Karthikeyan observed a bonnet macaque perched on the tyre of a tourist vehicle.