A male and female leopard locked in a ferocious clash, a Changeable hawk-eagle taking flight with the remains of a kill and a vast congregation of cormorants weaving patterns across the water are among the winning entries of the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2025.

The awards were presented at an event in Mumbai on Friday.

The annual competition is organised by the Sanctuary Nature Foundation, which also brings out the Sanctuary Asia magazine, with the objective of promoting wildlife conservation through photography.

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The awards were instituted in 2000 to recognise individuals working for the protection of wildlife and natural habitats in India.

The winners this year were chosen by a panel of judges comprising Sanctuary Asia founder and editor Bittu Sahgal, executive editor Lakshmy Raman, senior members of the magazine team Parvish Pandya, Saurabh Sawant and Prachi Galange, wildlife photographer and author Steve Winter, Wildlife Conservation Trust chief Anish Andheria and wildlife photographer and field biologist Nayan Khanolkar.

Rumna Mukherjee was awarded the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Adam Taylor received the second prize and Kuldeep Lodhi received the third prize.

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The editors choice award went to Aditya Agarwal.

Eight change-makers from across the country were also honoured under four categories – Green Teacher Award, Wildlife Service Award, Young Naturalist Award and Lifetime Service Award – on Friday.

A look at the award-winning photographs:

“Tough Love”, shot by Rumna Mukherjee at the Jhalana-Amagarh Conservation Reserve in Rajasthan’s Jaipur, shows a male and female leopard locked in a ferocious clash high in the forest canopy. Mukherjee won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.
“A Flight of Life and Death”, shot by Adam Taylor at Uttarakhand’s Corbett Tiger Reserve, shows a Changeable hawk-eagle taking flight with the remains of a kill. Taylor’s image earned him second place in the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography contest.
“Cormorants Assemblage!”, shot by Kuldeep Lodhi in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, won the third prize. The aerial photograph captured a vast congregation of cormorants weaving intricate, almost hypnotic patterns across the water.