The third week of August ended with a wildlife event and a wildlife/conservation festival, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The first was the screening of “Cobra King”, a documentary on the King Cobra made by Sandesh Kadur of Felis Creations

It was Gowrishankar of Kalinga Centre for Rainforest Ecology narrating the life cycle of this iconic reptile of the Western Ghats.

I cannot yet find the documentary on the net ( has it not yet been released to the wild, like rescued snakes are…?), but here is another video on the same snake from the same film maker:

Here’s a young mother giving her son a reassuring touch during the intense parts of the film:

Here is the team who created the film:

The other event is one that is turning from a wildlife photography event into an annual festival that celebrates various wildlife conservation, while also indicating how much still needs to be done.

The Nature in Focus Festival

Kalyan Varma, one of the co-directors of the festival, compered the event, and a smorgasbord of people associated with wildlife documentation and conservation spoke at the event.

Sale of art and crafts at the event:

Here’s Dhimant Vyas  talking about his journey as an illustrator, in conversation with Rohan Chakravarty, an award-winning wildlife cartoonist, who later spoke (with humour, of course!) about his craft as a tool in conservation.

Dhimant and others, enjoying the event:

It’s a big measure of the increasing importance of this festival that it is now drawing speakers and participants from all over the world.

A section of the audience:

Two of the award-winning photographs:

An expert birder and photographer looks at the images on display:

Though the major part of my wildlife experience will always be the actual visits to the forests and wilderness, such events celebrating wildlife and conservation help people like me listen to many voices both of the creatures who share this Earth with us, and the committed people who carry those wild voices to many urban dwellers who feel out of touch with the natural world.

Well, naturally!