Capturing Wildlife Moments in India - Book Review

It is not easy to go into the wild. As everybody cannot go into the wild wildlife is brought for everyone through an illustrated book named Capturing Wildlife Moments in India. It contains 120 photographs showing the rich heritage and range of wildlife and its habitats in India. It enlists over 30 locations visited for taking pictures. It enlists Wildlife Hotspots and also suggests of interesting places to stay. The book also enumerates the camera techniques used for clicking the pictures.

It is indeed saddening to know that less than five percent of India's area is designated as protected for animals and birds. According to the author his endeavour as a photographer is to encourage people to care for threatened species before it is too late. 

 

The pictures of wildlife must have been taken with lot of effort. The author has also included some pictures of trees and tribals as well. But what is interesting than the pictures is the information which accompanies them. So the author tells us that the elephants follow the matriarchal system. Honey intoxicates the Himalayan black bear. The Malabar Pied Hornbill male traps the female in her nest by walling up the nest. It narrates a heart touching story of how a male tiger raised his two cubs after the death of their mother. Interbreeding with domestic buffaloes has made the wild buffaloes endangered. Langurs are friends of deers and are the first to identify the predators and inform their friends. It is such nuggets of information that make the book unique and interesting. They clear overshadow the photographs. 

 

The author also classifies the wildlife into vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, near threatened categories. That means that the attractive animal posing for the camera may not survive for coming years and even become extinct. This feeling makes you restless and achieves the goal of the author to make the masses aware of the wildlife conservation.

The author's subjects of photography cover a wide range including lesser heard organisms like mudkipper and the omnipresent sparrow whose existence too is threatened. After a certain point the book becomes repetitive with the same tigers, elephants, crocodiles and storks. I wish the author would have avoided this repetition. However inspite of it given the dearth of Indian books in this segment, the book is highly recommended. This is a book you will not repent buying. 

"This post is a part of the book review program of at Saevus Wildlife India in association with The Hemchand Mahindra Foundation for the book Capturing Wildlife Moments in India"