In this video, I take you along on a journey into the grasslands of Karbanwadi where we had some incredible wolf sightings. Kadbanwadi is a protected grassland near Bhigwan in Maharasthra. It is about a three hour drive from Pune. This trip was a warm-up before an upcoming adventure to Botswana, but little did I know that it would turn into one of the most incredible wolf sightings I’ve ever had. We arrived at Kadbanwadi just as the sun was rising, and even before I could unpack my camera, we got a call from our guide that a pack of wolves had been spotted nearby. We rushed to the location, hoping for a glimpse of these elusive creatures. The pack slowly emerged from a cornfield and crossed the valley right in front of us. These were wolves I had seen before—pups from a previous trip—but now they were all grown up. We spent over two hours with them, driving alongside as they went about their day. To my amazement, they seemed completely at ease with our presence, and ended up resting as close as 40 feet from our vehicle. Kadbanwadi is a unique place, a mosaic of habitats that includes rocky terrain, grasslands, scrub jungles, and agricultural fields. The last time I was here, the landscape was a dry shade of brown, but this time, thanks to the monsoon rains, everything was lush and green. It was the perfect backdrop for watching wildlife. And although I was here primarily to see wolves, the area offered much more—raptors, chinkaras, and a rich diversity birdlife. As the day wore on, the wolves retreated into the fields, and we didn't find them that afternoon. Wildlife photography isn’t always predictable, and after such a lucky morning, the afternoon drive was quieter. Still, the beauty of Kadbanwadi in the monsoon more than made up for the lack of sightings. The next morning, however, our patience was rewarded. After hearing distant howling, we found two wolves in the open. As we waited for better light, more wolves appeared, and eventually, we saw a total of six wolves playing in an agricultural field. The wolves were full of energy, running around as if there were no tomorrow, while the adults relaxed nearby. This was one of my best wolf sightings, and I hope this video brings you as close as possible to the magic of seeing these incredible animals in the wild. Note : The shots from a drone are far away from the protected area of Kadbanwadi, over private property. They are representative of the habitat. None of the shots of the wolves are with drones : they are all with a long lens when the wolves were in a valley below.

Join me on an early morning trip from Pune to Kadbanwadi to look for the elusive Indian wolf. Waking up at 2 a.m. and driving for three hours was just the beginning of this journey. Kadbanwadi, a semi-arid grassland typical of the Deccan Plateau, may seem barren at first glance, but it teems with life when we look closely. Despite my tempered expectations, having not seen a wolf since 2012, this trip surprised me. Amid the scrub jungle, we spotted a wolf easily, soon joined by the rest of its pack. This rare encounter was a dream come true, bringing me within five feet of these magnificent creatures. Throughout the day, we observed these social animals, part of a larger pack in this unique habitat. Indian wolves, a subspecies of the grey wolf, are the apex predators of India's grasslands but face significant threats from habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict.

In this video, I'll take you to a place that will never make it onto any travel, wildlife or nature photography list, but it's still my favourite place in the world - the Gaushala. The reason I love coming here - the abundance of spiny tailed lizards. So large is its number, that the entire landscape, when observed from above, appears to be dotted with white spots – the sand that this animal has freshly burrowed out. Since 2012, I’ve been trying to make a wide-angled scape shot of the spiny-tailed. Something with a spiny tailed lizard in the foreground, and the large scape of the Ghaushala behind it. Since these lizards are skittish, I need to place a camera and wait for them to walk into the frame. In the last 12 years, I haven’t found a frame to my liking. What makes this more challenging is the number of predatory birds, especially laggar falcons, that hunt these lizards persistently. In Gaushala, it is quite common to see a laggar falcon feeding on a spiny tailed lizard. This video has footage of a falcon feeding on a lizard, as well as falcons nesting in the Gaushala. I take you along on what a day at Gaushala is - where the slowness that comes by surrendering to a lizard’s well gets abruptly, and frequently, interrupted by falcons hunting them. My story on Gaushala that was published on Nature in Focus - https://www.natureinfocus.in/animals/...