#sitaram raul

[coldmourningrosary]

Title: Nature Reclaims its Space

Photographer: Sitaram Raul (India)

Location: Banda, Maharashtra, India

In total darkness, Mr Raul stood amid fruit bats emerging from a historical ruin, using focus and flash to capture the moment. Bats swooped overhead while "randomly pooping" on him and his camera.

In southern Asia, old world fruit bats often roost in abandoned buildings.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Nature Reclaims Its Space

Sitaram Raul (India)

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

[angloirishnolanist]

Nature Reclaims Its Space - Taken by Sitaram Raul - Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025

[thoughtlessarse]

Nature Reclaims Its Space shows fruit bats leaving their roost in the ruins of a historical monument in Banda in India’s Maharashtra state. To take the photo, Sitaram Raul, from India, worked in total darkness, manually focusing his lens at the distance where he guessed the bats might appear and relying on flash to illuminate the scene. - Photograph: Sitaram Raul/2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

There are 13 different species of fruit bats in India, so I've no idea which species these are, and I assume the genus is Pteropus. Correction and species identification welcomed.

Click source for more 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners.

[aeontriad]

Sitaram Raul