From the 21st to the 30th of August, Bangalore’s UB City mall came alive with photographs of some of India’s most beautiful wildlife. Covering the walls of the mall’s top floor were photographs by eminent wildlife photographer, Sandesh Kadur. All along the walls, birds nested and tigers rested among lush green forests and deep orange sunsets, giving the bustling metropolitan a glimpse into a world that was wilder, far more beautiful and in grave danger of being lost.
Mr. Kadur’s fundraiser exhibition, titled Elements of Nature, was organized by his Bangalore-based visual arts company- Felis Creations- and was aimed at bringing this amazing but threatened part of India to the urban Indian, as seen through the lens of his camera.
A long-time supporter and close-friend of Wildlife SOS, Mr. Kadur was eager for Wildlife SOS to be a part of the event, and invited his childhood friend and Wildlife SOS co-founder, Mr. Kartick Satyanarayan, to address the audience on the third day of the event, and Mr. Satyanarayan drew the audience into a whole new world of wildlife conservation, telling them the story of the organisations origin and its subsequent expansion into the organization it is today. The enthralled audience was taken through Wildlife SOS’ work with working and performing elephants and sloth bears, man-animal conflict involving leopards and Asiatic black bears, and anti-poaching operations spanning across the country. Nearly an hour-and-a-half away, Wildlife SOS’ Bannerghatta Bear Centre is home to more than 87 sloth bears rescued from horrific lives as dancing bears and more than twenty leopards that have fallen victim to man-animal conflict in the area. A portion of the money raised during the charity event will go to the rehabilitation of these animals, and the continued efforts of Wildlife SOS to create a safer, more understanding world for wildlife.
Volunteers at the event managed a stall set up by Wildlife SOS selling merchandise and answering all the questions posed by intrigued visitors, surrounded by striking padhchinhs or elephant footprints by our two new elephants Wally and Peanut, and of course our veteran elephant artist- Phoolkali!
Between Mr. Kadur’s vibrant photography and Mr. Satyanarayan’s contagious passion about the wildlife he has dedicated his life to saving, it was impossible not to be inspired to do your bit and support the cause of wildlife conservation in India.
