THERE'S A LION AT THE DOOR!

An Indian duo is blending photography and conservation efforts at the Masai Mara

- MEERA SURESH

One day, wildlife photographer Dileep Anthikad was photographing a pair of black-crowned night herons at the Abu Nakhlah wetland in Qatar. Unknown to him, the same pair of birds were in the gunsights of a sport hunter. He took down the birds, leaving Dileep heartbroken.

The incident in 2009 set him thinking. Was empathy enough for the wild? Or, as a nature lover, was it on people like him to do more? These questions prompted Dileep to quit his job in the oil and gas industry to take up conservation. In 2014, he played a crucial role in setting Qatar’s first private nature reserve, Irkaya Farm, 50 kms west of Doha. In 2017, he helped develop the 1.2 lakh-hectare Al Reem Biosphere Reserve, 65 km northwest of Doha. It is Qatar’s only reserve to be recognised by the UNESCO.

Dileep’s love for wildlife prompted him to shift base to the Kenyan reserve of Masai Mara where he, along with conservationist and wildlife photographer Remya Anup Warrier, set up a river camp, Osero Sopia.

For the past 19 months, the simple-yet-cosy tents of Osero Sopia, in the middle of the 1,510 sq-km African savannah, are home to the two naturalists. They host guests, including hundreds of wildlife photographers, while playing an active role in conserving the robust wildlife.

Dileep’s tryst with Masai Mara began in 2009. A Birdguides/BBC award-winning photographer (2010), Dileep had travelled all over Africa, but Masai Mara stayed with him. It was getting in touch with Remya that resulted in the idea of a river camp. She too came with rich experience in conservation. Based in Singapore, she had travelled to reserves across Africa, including to Mashatu game reserve of Botswana, where she did her wildlife field guide course. The idea of a river camp in Masai Mara was a dream for her, too.