Mumbai’s Nayan Khanolkar Wins BBC’s Wildlife Photographer Award

The photograph was chosen for highlighting how the big cats and humans co-exist in urban spaces.

The Alley Cat, the photograph that got Khanolkar the award. (Photo Courtesy: Nayan Khanolkar)

It’s called ‘The Alley Cat’, the photograph that won Mumbai-based conservationalist Nayan khanolkar BBC’s best wildlife photographer of the year award.

Khanolkar has been documenting India’s wildlife for over a decade now and works as a Research Fellow with the Bombay Natural History Society, along with being a bilogy teacher. His current focus is on the big cats prowling in urban areas, in a bid to raise more awareness about conserving them.

The photograph, clicked in Mumbai’s Aarey Milk colony, won the accolade in the Urban wildlife category.

The Alley Cat, the photograph that got Khanolkar the award. (Photo Courtesy: Nayan Khanolkar)

“With growing human-leopard conflict grabbing the headlines, Nayan was determined to show things could be different. Positioning his camera trap so a passing cat would not dominate the frame, the wait began. After four months, he finally captured this unique human-leopard co-existence as this big cat weaves its way silently through the alley,” Khanolkar’s website reads.

Here are some of his other photographs:

Nayan Khanolkar’s photographs. (Photo Courtesy: Nayan Khanolkar)

Nayan Khanolkar’s photographs. (Photo Courtesy: Nayan Khanolkar)

Nayan Khanolkar’s photographs. (Photo Courtesy: Nayan Khanolkar)