The annual Sanctuary Wildlife Awards for 2025, held in Mumbai on Friday, celebrated the best of Indian wildlife photography and conservation, while also serving as a platform for a stark warning from a leading expert. The event's top photography award was claimed by Rumna Mukherjee for a captivating image of a male and female leopard interacting high in a tree canopy in Rajasthan's Jhalana.
Conservationist Condemns "Bad Idea" of Leopard Sterilisation
When questioned about the recent decision by the Maharashtra government to sterilise leopards involved in human-animal conflicts, Bittu Sahgal, the veteran conservationist and founder editor of Sanctuary Asia, was unequivocal in his criticism. He stated that sterilising leopards is a "bad idea" that "will not work." He further dismissed the alternative of tranquillising and placing conflict animals in zoos as another ineffective solution.
Sahgal pointed to the situation in Junnar as a prime example of a "manufactured" problem. He explained that a pump storage project, built despite expert warnings, degraded the forest habitats within the Kalsubai Harishchandragad Sanctuary and severed crucial wildlife corridors.
"Worse, the surplus water collected was used to irrigate massive sugarcane parcels of land, which were occupied by leopards whose populations exploded. The consequent leopard-human conflicts led to a horrifying number of human deaths," Sahgal elaborated. He concluded that Junnar ended up creating "sugarcane leopards," mirroring the phenomenon of "sugarcane tigers" in the Terai region.
Two Paths Forward: Restoration or Perpetual Conflict
The founder editor, who has organised these awards since 2000 with support from DSP Mutual Fund, presented a clear choice. "Basically, we have two choices. Remove the sugarcane fields and restore the ecological health of the land... or live with a permanent leopard problem and choose one of two options. Kill the leopards. Or rewild their land by restoring it to ecological health," he said.
Sahgal described the first option as following the unsustainable path of industrialisation. The latter, he explained, follows the path of ancestors who thrived by respecting nature, a principle he champions.
Award Winners: From Leopards to the Waterman of India
The award-winning photograph by Rumna Mukherjee was captured in Jhalana, Rajasthan. The second prize in wildlife photography was awarded to Adam Taylor for his dynamic shot of a Changeable Hawk Eagle taking flight with its kill in Corbett National Park, an image that creates an illusion of the bird having 'extended legs.'
The prestigious Sanctuary Lifetime Service Award for 2025 was conferred upon Dr. Rajendra Singh, renowned as the "Waterman of India" for his pioneering work in water conservation.
The other distinguished winners of the Sanctuary Wildlife Awards included:
- Parveen Shaikh – Avian ecologist and conservation biologist.
- Babban – Forest and wildlife guardian.
- Siddharth Agarwal – Environmental trailblazer and climate action advocate.
- Dr. Sonali Ghosh – Wildlife innovator, administrator, and academic.
- Saroj Kumar Panda – Forest Department official and conservation leader.
- Sahil Bhisso Gaonkar (Young Naturalist) – Wildlife rescuer and emerging voice.
- Venkatesh Charloo (Green Teacher) – Scuba instructor and ocean ambassador.
