TRAILING Solo

I USED TO GO RUNNING EVERY evening at sunset from my lodge at Bandhavgarh to a village nearby. One evening, as I was walking back, I heard langur alarm calls. They were excited and frantic, and I knew what that meant—a big cat. After about 45 minutes, I saw something come out of the bushes, look at me, and charge. Almost instinctively, I jumped up and yelled back, and the leopard ran away. The female came out of the bushes next and simply walked away. I guess I won alpha-off.”

- LABANYA MAITRA

Suyash Keshari is a young wildlife photographer and presenter who produced his first web-series, Safari with Suyash, which released on Dec 6, 2019, in collaboration with WWF International. Keshari spent his childhood in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh exploring the wild with his father. “I remember I was at the zoo when a tiger snarled at me,” says Keshari. “I was so excited! But my nanaji asked me a simple question: do you like seeing animals in cages? That really hit home. The natural world should not be caged for human entertainment. And it set me on a path about learning more about wildlife.”

WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND SAFARI WITH SUYASH?