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Sitara A. Karthikeyan
Vishruth Cavale
LOCATION: Valparai, Tamil Nadu, India DETAILS: Camera: Canon EOS-1DX, Lens: Canon EF 24-105 mm. f/3.5-5.6 IS STM,
Shutter speed: 1/400 sec., Aperture: f/5.6, ISO 800, Focal length: 105 mm.
LOCATION: Mangalore Port, Karnataka, India. DETAILS: Camera: Canon EOS 600D,
Lens: Tokina AT-x 116 PRO DX II 11-16 mm. f/2.8, Shutter speed: 1/400 sec., Aperture: f/6.3, ISO 100, Focal length: 11 mm.
Valparai Vagrant Are our closest
cousins getting too close for comfort?
At a pitstop on the drive up to
Valparai in the Anamalai Hills,
Sitara A. Karthikeyan observed a
bonnet macaque perched on the
tyre of a tourist vehicle. As various
states in India lobby to cull or
sterilise monkey populations, and
grapple ineffi ciently with chronic
monkey-human confl ict, the simians
continue to adapt as best as they
can to live alongside their human
neighbours. Unfortunately, root
problems – shrinking wild habitats, an
abysmal lack of waste management
systems and the annoying penchant
that tourists have for feeding monkeys- remain ignored. The soft tones of
this image, the monkey’s pronounced
bonnet and its disconcertingly
expressive eyes call for a moment
of introspection and the realisation
that this is yet another species
that’s trying to survive the age of
the Anthropocene.
Last Port of Call A fi lthy plastic
crate in the Mangalore Port cradles
the lifeless body of a shark ray.
Though not a targeted species by
most Indian fi sheries, shark rays are
nonetheless considered valuable
bycatch. Soon this specimen will
be sold – its meat dried, salted
and consumed locally, while its fi ns
perhaps will fi nd their way to a
far-eastern country to be cooked
into a soup. These graceful shallow-
water dwellers are classifi ed as
Vulnerable and though there is scant
data on their biology and population,
it is accepted that they are facing
global decline. Young Vishruth Cavale
has made a poignant, desolate image
that is emblematic of the ongoing,
silent annihilation of dozens of
little-known species across the world.