Stunning images from the Wild

Wildlife photography, which requires a lot of patience, can be a tedious affair. But for Dr Ajit Huilgol, a reputed kidney transplant surgeon from Bangalore, it is a passion and a hobby. Over the past few years, he has traveled across the globe to pursue his interest, and captutred many breathtaking moments of the wild in his photographs.

"All of us are born with a love for wildlife. Hand over a chocolate to any kid and I am sure he will love it more if it is in the shape of an animal," he points out.

"For me, the passion towards wildlife never died. We learnt a lot about it during school but it was a trip to Bandipur that revived my interest in wildlife," he recalls.

Dr Huilgol received his first digital camera in 2006. He takes time off his busy schedule once a year to venture out into the wild. He has clicked over 500 photographs in a very short span of time. He shares some of his favourite photographs with rediff.com.

Text: Vicky Nanjappa

When they take off, these vultures look so clumsy, but once they are airborne, they are unparalleled.

Oh! What a sighting! The time was 6.25 pm, quite dark as you can imagine, and we were returning after our trip into the jungle, when we spotted this from the main road. I have seen this bird only once before, in BR Hills, but this was the first time I could capture it on film.

There were six gharials in the Ramganga river at 'Crocodile Point'. This is a male, distinguished by the lump at the end of his snout.

God knows what they were unhappy about, but they sure were having a flaming argument!

This calf insisted on coming closer to us. Its mother (or aunt?), after several failed attempts to hold the calf back, delivered this well-aimed kick to instill discipline.

There is a mud road cutting through Baasur Kaval, and the pair of wolves with cubs crossed over to the other side. This part of the park is comparatively heavily wooded and is inaccessible to vehicles. So, we got down and tracked the wolves on foot. The female and cubs moved away, but this male stood his ground and barked out a loud and clear warning not to come closer. He meant it!

A number of peafowl gather on the rocks and frequently fly from one rock to another.

Woken up rudely by visitors near Kisli Gate, Kanha, this owl seems to be seeing double, with its cock-eyed look.

All nine of these great cormorants touched down at almost the same time.

I managed to capture this squirrel during its jump.

We sat with her for two whole hours. This is quite rare in Ranthambhore. And we were only 20 metres away from her!

Despite the collar, this cub of a tigress sets out on a hunt.

These two cubs found a rope lying on the ground and started a tug-of-war. One of the cubs won the first round by bending the rules a bit -- by biting the other's face.

The cubs (about 5 months old) were a little too big to be suckling, and when their sharp teeth hurt her, she growled and grimaced, and got up. Unfortunately, I heard that one of the two male lions, in whose territory this female with cubs resides, killed one of these cuddly cubs. Gruesome? But that's the natural world!

This is dry grass plains area, similar to Velavadhar in Gujarat or Masai Mara in Kenya and supports a large number of black buck.