Amazing Indian Wildlife Moments
What an Incredible year loaded with mesmerizing wildlife moments from the most amazing wildlife destination in the world, the INDIA. I spent some wonderful time in the Jungle witnessing exciting wildlife moments. You can see all those Picture galleries at these links – https://www.facebook.com/AlvisLazarusPhotography/ | https://www.instagram.com/AlvisLazarusPhotography/
Though I have taken some hundreds and thousands of Indian wildlife photographs, a few wildlife moments are so close to my heart. I have handpicked Top 10 Indian Wildlife Moments which has really touched me and an Inspiration to me. I’m sure these wildlife moments will inspire you as well! Please don’t be hard on the number 10, I couldn’t restrict the beauty of Incredible Indian Wildlife in 10 shots and hence sharing the best 20 wildlife moments. As you scroll down, the wildlife moments become more and more interesting. Enjoy all the Indian Wildlife Moments.
Indian Wildlife Moment #20 | Curious Beauty | Bandipur National Park
It was yet another beautiful morning at Bandipur. While I was on the trail, we stopped by to see a group of chital (spotted deer). All the deers were busy eating. I saw this gorgeous beauty; with the blue backdrop she was so pretty and I took my camera to take a picture of her. I’m not sure what made her so curious… with eyes locked on me, ears popped out, she gave a beautiful pose for a portrait. I see this superb quality of this gorgeous beauty of the willingness to see to the details of anything new in life.
Spotter Deer with Curious Look
Indian Wildlife Moment #19 | Kiss of Death | Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary
Serpent eagles have snakes as major part of their diet. Each snake kill is a life or death for the eagle. The eagle would look for the snake, fly in, pick up the snake, move to perch and then would make the kill. There is a higher probability of the snake curling up. The trickiest part is the time when the bird of prey has to reach out to the head and kill the snake. At this moment, the snake was alive. Like a trained killer, he grabbed the snake by the head and gave the kiss of death.
Serpent Eagle with Snake Kill
Indian Wildlife Moment #18 | Giant Leap of Faith | Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary
Malabar Giant Squirrel is a very active species; One specific behaviour of this Giant Squirrel is an acrobatic act of them jumping from one tree to another in search of fresh nuts or sprinting while in danger. They would literally leap and be in mid air before landing. After years of wait, I was able to capture that moment in a beautiful set up. I was on the way back from an evening safari and I saw this beautiful Malabar giant squirrel. I had a feel that it may jump; within split seconds he took a giant leap across the trail to another tree. I was really amazed by seeing the leap of faith.
Giant Leap of Malabar Giant Squirrel
Indian Wildlife Moment #17 | Glowing Cuteness of Childhood | GIR National Park
Animals at their young age are loaded with cuteness and best time to photography them. During the recent trip to GIR national park, I saw this beautiful fawn. Under Jungle canopy, a ray of light hit the Fawn on face. I loved the face glowing on the side and to highlight that, underexposed the picture to highlight only the side of the face which was glowing on the light. What a cute little fellow!!!
Glowing Cuteness of Childhood
Indian Wildlife Moment #16 | Icon of India | Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary
Seeing Tigers in wild is nothing short of a adrenalin pumping experience. Though I have seeing hundreds of Tiger in wild, this frame is so special. On that trip, I waited for days to see a tiger. After hours of wait on the 4th day of the trip, we heard Langur calls in the wild. Then the Jungle went calm and a majestic Male tiger walked from the bushes with his eyes locked at me. That moment literally sent shivers down my spine.
Male Tiger Prince Picture from Bandipur
Indian Wildlife Moment #15 | Flame Back in Rain | Dandeli, Karnataka
I have always seen woodpecker on a tree. On this day at Dandeli, it rained heavily and the logs on ground were drenched wet and there were a lot of worms, insects and dirt. The woodpeckers started to hunt them on ground. Wow, it was so cute seeing them jumping around and searching for insects and worms. This woodpecker moved from behind a log; with only face visible and contrasting colours after rain as backdrop, the flame back actually lit the moment.
Woodpecker on a log, peeking out
Indian Wildlife Moment #14 | Pride of India | Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve
Story of a determined mother! Rocky terrain of Bandhavgarh and three majestic beauties – Mother and two cubs. Her (Mother Tiger) first litter and a precious one. She lost her eye in a fight before she had the babies. When she delivered, we all felt how she will hunt and take care of the babies. Yet this determined mother proved all of us wrong, she hunts like a pro even with one eye and fed them full. These tiger cubs are just a year old and just look at their build. It is very much evident, this determined mother never give up on her kids. Proud of you tiger mother.
Wild Tiger Mother with Two Cubs
Indian Wildlife Moment #13 | Incandescent Tusks | Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
Bhadra is easily one of the thickest jungle I have ever seen. Bhadra’s thick jungle was resistant to leave light through; Yet the twilight sneaked in. Under the gorgeous light, I saw two blazing tusks on a majestic black beauty. Tall gorgeous greens and the handsome guy, both were too good to be ignored in the frame and I decided to switch to a wide angle and cover it all. The minimalist composition actually made the moment so dramatic.
Bull Elephant’s stare
Indian Wildlife Moment #12 | Precious Jewel in the Jungle | Nagarhole National Park
What a lovely bird! It was a rainy day and the light at the jungle after the rains was just too gorgeous and lit the whole jungle habitat. The peacock was glowing like a jewel in the jungle. After seeing this perch, I asked the safari vehicle to stop. I was just seeing his beauty for few minutes without even blinking before I took this shot.
Handsome Peacock on a Beautiful Perch at Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary
Indian Wildlife Moment #11 | Mirrored Beauties | Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary
Bandipur habitat is just so gorgeous and I saw two spotted deers grazing. It was a moment after rains and the twilight was too mesmerizing to handle. I asked the naturalist to stop for a while and my friends in the vehicle were not so happy since we were on the move looking out for a tiger. As I was enjoying the scene, the two Stags stopped for a moment and looked at me. It was a moment so well synchronized and I felt that both stags are almost identical. I captured the frame and named it the Mirrored Beauties. It was one of the National Geographic Editor favourites this year and my friend obviously envy this shot… haha.
Spotted Deers at Bandipur Wild Habitat
Indian Wildlife Moment #10 | Thoughtful Mother | Bandipur National Park
She is a New Mom. I have been watching her (Langur Mother) for almost 2 full days and the whole time what she does is just only one thing – taking care of her few days old Langur baby. She won’t even take her eyes off the baby. After days of relentless watching, for a very brief moment she rested in a place near the baby and looked up. I just felt this caring mother is certainly thinking of her baby’s future. How cute, isn’t it?. The beautiful moment is captured and a very memorable moment for me.
Indian Hanuman Langur Portrait
Indian Wildlife Moment #09 | Art of Kissing | GIR National Park
GIR National Park – the only place to see the Asiatic Lions. These lions have a long way and I was so glad to see them healthy and getting stronger generation by generation. At Zone 2, I have been following a Lion pride and the pride had two siblings. These Lioness Siblings share an amazing bond which is very evident on this kiss. The Sun was harsh and the younger sibling was resting on a shade; moments later, the older sibling walked by. With so much warmth, felt the sibling’s love fully through closing her eyes and expressed her love through a warm kiss. A priceless moment of Sibling’s love!!! I felt this ‘Unconditional Love’ is what is missing in this world. We have become so busy that we don’t have time to spend time with our Loved ones. This moment is an eye opener to live a meaningful life expressing Unconditional Love.
Lioness Sibling’s Love
Indian Wildlife Moment #08 | Mom and Me | Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary
Picture published in Conde Nast Traveller India
Out of all the relationships, nothing compares to the true love and unselfishness of a MOTHER towards her baby. This holds good for humans as well as wildlife. Though Elephants herd share a good bond; the mother and baby elephant share a very special bond. Never the mother’s eyes move out from the baby. Even in the wild, there are moments of tenderness. At this wildlife moment, the mother and the baby just spending some time together away from the group and the baby was just following the mother. The interaction between these two was so human, I was immediately reminded of the time I spent with my mother, as a child. How I held on to everything she said and did. It was an incredibly emotional moment for me. Deep in the Kabini backwaters, far removed from all I knew, I was grateful for the lesson nature taught me.
Mom Elephant and Calf
Indian Wildlife Moment #07 | Dream Flight | Marli Lake Bangalore
The inspiration for this shot is a white owl picture from National Geographic; I have been waiting for a moment like this for years. In India, Barn Owl is the one with beautiful white shade. It is so rare to see an Owl out in open & then to fly head on is still rare. On that late evening, my wife spotted a barn owl; I saw her perch very far. With the hope that she will return, I took my 600mm & held on hand for hours before she flew head-on towards me. I was go glad to capture her beautiful flight. wow! Perseverance is the key in realizing a dream and when it comes true, that excitement knew no bounds!
Barn Owl in a Head on Flight
Indian Wildlife Moment #06 | The Last Stand | Kabini Nagarhole National Park
It was a misty day at Kabini & within few minutes into the Jungle drive, I witnessed this very rare wildlife moment between dhole (wild dog) and a stag (Male Spotted Deer). The determination for survival from the stag and the perseverance of dhole to feed her family was very evident in the stand off. Wild dogs hunt in packs and a deer’s instinct is to run, moment it saw a predator. Both didn’t happen that day, a hungry determined wild dog took the stag on her own and the deer stood on his ground and fought back… wow! As it is said, Survival of the Fittest is the golden rule in the Jungle and it holds good for Humans too.
Wild Dog Vs Spotted Deer
Indian Wildlife Moment #05 | Bold Beauty | Nagarhole National Park
It’s rare to see a leopard like this on ground posing and that too a look like this. The moment happened when we all saw a leopard sitting near to a tree. There was a mad rush to see him from the front; I chose to just wait by the side and wait for him to turn… I had already thought of a frame and was waiting. After minutes, he gave a look for a split second and that is this moment. A beautiful sighting which is so memorable.
Indian Leopard Portrait
Indian Wildlife Moment #04 | Illuminated Kingfisher | Kodaikanal Lake
It was a misty day at Kodaikanal and the sun was playing hide and seek with clouds. Me and my wife were taking a walk by the lake and she spotted this cute kingfisher. She was on a perch waiting to catch a fish. Her perch was fully covered with greens like a Wild canopy. As I was watching her, a ray of light just made a side of her glow. And that’s the moment captured. Used Low exposure to darken the background and loved the portrait of the kingfisher. So lovely… isn’t it?
Illuminated Kingfisher
Indian Wildlife Moment #03 | Owl’s Peek-a-boo! | Lalbagh Gardens Bangalore
Award winning picture published in National Geographic and BBC Wildlife
We were at Lalbagh gardens the whole day looking for owls. It was a dry tiring day and we couldn’t spot any of them. With little disappointment, we rested on a place near a tree; My wife saw crows creating a lot of noise and they were hovering near a hole on the tree. As she looked at the hole on the trunk, she spotted the Spotted Owlet. I saw those cute eyes of the owlets popping out… it was so gorgeous to see just the face out from the hole. Superb, it made my day. We could have just walked out in frustration but we decided to patiently wait there and those minutes paid off. Not just wildlife but even in real life, determination and patience to get what we want make the real difference between success and a failure.
Spotted Owlet Peek-a-boo
Indian Wildlife Moment #02 | I Won’t Give Up! Will Face it in Style! | Velavadar Black Buck Sanctuary
I have taken pictures of Black Bucks at their habitat; most times they would be as a group. At a rare moment, I saw just this one black buck alone in the vast landscape of Velavadar Black Buck Sanctuary. I was just looking at him for quite some time through my lens. He decided to raise his head up & face me head on. The attitude of the Male Black Buck was so majestic and I just loved that Bold attitude. Wow, the scene was so amazing, I decided to take a wide shot. Most times, life put us alone to battle out tough situations and we need to face it boldly with style to come out in flying colours. This moment is a real inspiration for that.
Wild Black Buck Ready to Lock Horns
Indian Wildlife Moment #01 | Romance in the Air | Chitoor District
Award winning picture published in National Geographic and BBC Wildlife
Baya Weavers are one of the most cute birds. They are palm sized, cute, adorable & freakily active. Out of all acts, one cute act is when the male hangs onto the half built nest, pedals the wings fast to call in the potential mate; the female weaver will approve him only if she likes the nest & feels that the place is safe. hmmm! hehe… even at wild we have to earn our love and it can never be taken for granted. That cute act of the male’s call and the moment of a female on the way to visit the home is captured. Wow! How romantic!
Female Baya Weaver bird visting Nest for Inspection
About the Author:
Alvis Lazarus is a Wildlife Photographer from Nazareth. Top Shot Winner 2017 (National Geographic) and Your Photo Winner 2017 (BBC Wildlife). Alvis’s work is published in Nat Geo, BBC Wildlife and Conde Nast Traveller Magazines. See his work here: Instagram | Facebook | Website
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