SEARING IMAGE OF STRICKEN ELEPHANTS WINS AWARD
THIS shocking photograph showing an adult elephant and its calf desperately fleeing from a mob after being set on fire has won a major prize.
The photo, shot in West Bengal state in India, starkly illustrates the troubling conflict between humans and elephants in the populous country.
Titled Hell is Here the graphic image, taken by local photographer Biplab Hazra, shows the two animals running for their lives from a crowd that had tossed flaming tar balls and crackers at them in a bid to scare them away from human settlements.
The image, shot on the State Highway in Jhargram district, won the 2017 Sanctuary Nature Foundation Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.
Mr Hazra, a professional brick kiln owner who counts wildlife photography as his passion, said the calf and adult somehow survived the attack.
“For these smart, gentle, social animals who have roamed the subcontinent for centuries, hell is now here,” he said.