Mountain goats take first place in India’s photo contest

1 November 2019 Forests in photos

India’s forests are diverse and beautiful, and are home to a wide range of animal species.

The Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests (NCCF), our national member for India, invited photographers to share their best wildlife photos – and they really delivered! The photos entered into the contest show animals in their natural habitats in and around the Indian forests.

The jury, made up of the renowned conservationist and wildlife photographer Dr. Asad R. Rahmani and Mr. Dhritiman Mukherjee, had the difficult task to choose three winners out of the 150 photos that entered the contest.

“Our photo contest opened a platform for photographers to depict India's megadiverse forests. India has around eight percent of global biodiversity in its landscapes, that provide pristine natural habitats to a huge variety of species,” said Mr. Sachin Jain from NCCF.

The winners

The jury chose ‘Nainital’, taken by Amit Sah as the winner. Taken in Nainital, Uttarakhand in India, the photo depicts goats climbing a steep mountain wall.

“My photo shows goral mountain goats. These goats are known as the best trekkers in the mountains,” said the winning photographer.

Second place went to the photo ‘Hawk moth and bird in the bush plant’, taken by Gurprit Singh.

“The hawk moth is also known as hummingbird moth or sphinx moth. It is part of the family Sphingidae and sucks the nectar from a bush plant,” he explained.

Gaurav Nawathey came in third with the photo ‘Darters Fight’, taken in Ranthambhore National Park in India. The photo depicts two Darters Snake Birds in the middle of a territorial fight on a lake.

“The fight was extremely quick and short. It was the first time I saw Darters fighting over territorial fishing waters. A very unique experience in the wilderness,” said Mr. Nawathey.

To see more photos entered in the Indian photo contest, head to Instagram and search for #nccfindia19.