Incredible Indian wildlife moments, by Rathika Ramasamy

About the photographer

Born in a village Venkatachalapuram near Theni in southern India, Rathika Ramasamy has always had a fierce connection with the drama of nature. An MBA/Computer Engineer, she was drawn towards wildlife photography a career in 2003 at Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Today, she is arguably one of India's foremost wildlife photographers and has travelled to most of the national parks in India and African forests. Her work has been featured in several national and international publications, as well as exhibitions.

Ramasamy regularly conducts wildlife photography workshops and talks all over India. In February 2015, she was awarded the "Inspiring Icon Award" from the prestigious Sathyabama University, Chennai, and in June 2015, she was conferred the ICF (The International Camera Fair) award for the outstanding performance and achievements in wildlife photography. She had been a jury member for various national and international photography award competitions.

She clicks her pictures with the motto: Every time I press the shutter, it's one step closer to Mother Nature.

View more of Ramasamy's photos on her website.

To view the images as a slideshow, click on the arrows in the top right hand corner of the photos below.

At Jim Corbett National Park, I was astonished to came across a scene of two male peacocks fighting. I saw them start circling around each other on the road in front of me, before fighting for 20 minutes! © Rathika Ramasamy

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Photo-3 — My most memorable thrilling tiger shooting experience was few years back, taken at Bijrani zone of Jim Corbett National Park. It was one of my dream shot, with both predator and prey in the same frame. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-4 — Black bucks in courtship ritual at Tal Chhapar Sanctuary in Rajasthan, which has the most number of blackbucks, an endangered species. © Rathika Ramasamy

Back profile of a great white pelican which was fishing. Fish is the staple diet for these birds. They have a long beak and the stretchy pouch under it that helps them to scoop fish easily. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-6 — While photographing migratory fowl, I was astonished to see a monitor lizard running for its life as a pair of rose-ringed parakeets fiercely attacked it, trying their eggs from predation. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-7 — The most beautiful courtship display that I have seen is that of the Sarus crane, a species which is a breeding resident of northern and central India and is the world's tallest flying bird. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-8 — One of the cutest moments I have captured is of spotted owlets preening each other at Sultanpur National Park near Delhi. In winter, these usually nocturnal birds will come out to bask in the sun. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-9 — Birds like the painted stork keep fishing throughout the day to feed its chicks. It is heart-warming to see that the mothers make sure that the babies are well fed even if they themselves go hungry. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-10 — This is Sharmili (Shy Girl) with one of her three cubs at Jim Corbett National Park. As it takes three or four attempts to make a kill, she hunted frequently to feed all the cubs, despite the toll it took on her. © Rathika Ramasamy

This elephant mother was very protective of its small calf and was keeping the calf very close to her. It was heart warming to see the baby elephants playing while following the mothers. © Rathika Ramasamy

It was my lucky day when I managed to shoot three tiger cubs whilst on a morning safari in Tadoba National park. I spent half an hour watching them playing on a mud track, it was pure bliss. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-13 — When this darter caught a fish, three cormorants chased it to try and steal the fish. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-14 — Great cormorants are fast in catching fish. In the blink of your eyes, they dive into the water, catch and gulp the fish. This shot was a rare sight for me, as the cormorant popped up in front me with a huge fish. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-15 — I was watching a black-necked stork from a distance and was approaching it slowly, when suddenly, it caught a big water snake by the neck, and after shaking it for ten minutes, it gulped it down. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-16 — Gulls in particular are masters in stealing fish from other gulls and smaller birds like little cormorants. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-17 — It is rare to get Indian sambar in one frame as group. This photo was taken one fine winter morning at Bharatpur bird sanctuary. As soon as I got few shots they ran away. © Rathika Ramasamy

I was following a group of lion-tailed macaques which are rainforest dwellers and love jackfruit. As soon as this one got a jackfruit, its eyes seemed to glitter with a happy expression. © Rathika Ramasamy

Photo-20 — White-throated laughingthrush © Rathika Ramasamy

Territorial fight — This image features a pair of Indain darters in a fiery territorial fight - usually they are very calm and serene birds! © Rathika Ramasamy

About the photographer

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