The nonprofit Sanctuary Nature Foundation, which publishes wildlife and photography magazine Sanctuary Asia, presented the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards at an event at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai on Friday.

The first prize was won by photographer Yashpal Rathore for a stunning photo of migrating Demoiselle cranes who stop over in the village of Kheechan in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur district to rest and refuel. “Rathore’s sensational composition and unusual viewpoint allows us to meditate on the cranes’ many charcoal hues, set against the bright desert sky. It’s a frame that is at once, both dynamic and calm,” read the citation.

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Two images – by photographers Abhijit Sinha and Aneesh Sankarankutty – received the joint second prize, while photographers Christy Williams and Kallol Mukherjee jointly received the third prize. Eleven photographs received honourable mentions and merit certificates at the event, which was supported by the Urvi Ashok Piramal Foundation, the True School of Music, and the Wildlife Conservation Trust.

“Conservation photography will play a key role in protecting the biosphere tomorrow,” Sanctuary Asia’s Editor Bittu Sahgal said in a press statement. “Together with advances in technology that have revolutionised photography, comes responsibility. The safety of the subject is more important than the image. Ethics demands that truth rules supreme.”

A look at the award-winning photographs:

A photograph of a group of migrating Demoiselle cranes, titled Grayscale, taken in the village of Kheechan in Rajasthan from the floor of the birds' foraging ground. Kheechan is the Mecca for birders looking to photograph the migrating cranes as they stop to rest and refuel. (Photo credit: Yashpal Rathore)
A tiger and a sloth bear encounter each other on a tree in Rajasthan's Ranthambhore National Park. The tiger was startled to find the bear up on his favourite haunt after returning from patrolling his territory. The photograph, titled "Tree of Contention", was one of the two photographs to win the second prize. (Photo credit: Abhijit Sinha)
An elephant in Kerala's Palakkad district steps on a railway track even as a train approaches. The photograph, titled "One Track Mind" bagged the joint second prize. (Photo credit: Aneesh Sankarankutty)
This photograph of wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bats in the limestone caves of Thailand's Wat Khao Chong Pran monastery was taken using flashlights and a slow shutter speed. The bats are setting out on their nocturnal hunt. The photograph, titled "Cave Spectres", won the joint third prize. (Photo credit: Christy Williams)

Some of the photographs that received certificates of merit:

A forest guard in Assam's Kaziranga National Park clings onto a tree while an Indian rhinoceros glowers at him. (Photo credit: Jugal Bharali)
Two leopards – siblings – in Sri Lanka’s Wilpattu National Park play with each other. (Photo credit: Sanjay Kumar Shukla)
Two tiger cubs lay dead on a stretch of the Chanda fort-Gondia railway track in Maharashtra. The lifeless body of a third cub was found in the bushes. (Photo credit: Kamlesh Tilakchand Thakur)