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Wild encounters
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If you are concerned with the environment and ecology, this is for you
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Photo: K. Ananthan
Food for thought T.R.A.Arunthavaselvan’s White Bowed Bulbul
Wildlife photographer T.N.A Perumal once said, “One good photograph can educate people about the environment, much more than a shelf full of books.”
And, a walk around the photograph exhibition, put up by the environmental organisation Osai and the Rotary Club of Coimbatore, Metropolis, at VOC Park is just that — edifying.
Twelve wildlife photographers, including C. Rathna Varshinia, a Class XI student from GD Matriculation School have submitted 400-odd photographs of animals, birds, reptiles and flora. They tell a riveting tale of the Western Ghats and its inhabitants. Photographs of elephants provide a guard of honour as you walk in. They are photographed at different times of the day, seasons and terrain, and in various sizes. What follows is a spread of birds found in the Western Ghats, of which a rare image of the Emerald Dove is one. The display is methodically done with pictures of nocturnal birds, raptors and so on grouped together. And, then the nests.
K.R. Karthikeyan, a volunteer, draws your attention to an amazing one. A male bird with a berry in its beak is about to feed the female in the hollow of the tree! That is just one of the many unbelievable shots.
Beastly tales
It is not only about the beauty of the creatures. Karthikeyan is visibly moved as he points out to a picture of a lion tailed macaque, crossing a tar road as a motorcycle looms frighteningly close. “They are extremely shy, arboreal creatures that live deep in forests. By building roads right through their habitat, we are forcing them to come out in the open,” he says.
The exhibition hopes to educate the public, especially the young. Rare sightings of animals and birds have been captured by the cameras — a striped hyena that is found only in the Moyar gorge; an Albino Gaur, a herd of elephants at Grass Hills — rare at that altitude, Tahrs on the march, a Sri Lankan Frogmouth, an Oriental Bay Owl and lots more.
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department has issued posters of fishes, amphibians and orchids found in this area. Osai has put together a poster featuring the endemic birds of the Western Ghats. A section has telling photographs of the man/animal conflict. Evocative photographs with slogans on them make you pause. One of a Sambhar with a crow on its head asks, “We can co-exist, can you?” An elephant wrestles with a water pipe for a drink and the line below reads, “I too have a right to live.”
Osai plans to sustain the awareness campaign on ecology and environment. “We want to make it an ongoing programme directed at the youth. There will be interactive session on nature and wildlife with students, exhibitions, discussions and so on henceforth,” says S. Satish of the Rotary Club (Metropolis) that owns the room where the exhibits are on display till October 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Entrance is free.
For details, call 0422-4372457 or 94430-22655.
PANKAJA SRINIVASAN
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