Hell is Here
<p>Since 1981, <em>Sanctuary Asia</em> has purposefully merged still images and moving words to keep human hearts beating to nature’s drum. For this 40th anniversary issue, we put together a smattering of impactful images that served in turn to elicit joy, anger, angst and action.</p>
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The heat from the fire scorches their delicate skin as mother and child attempt to flee the mob. In the lead, the cow’s expansive ears are angled forward as she ignores the crowd of jeering men. Behind her, her calf screams in confusion and fear as the fire licks at her feet. Flaming tar balls and crackers fly to a soundtrack of human laughter and shouts. In the Bankura district of West Bengal and other elephant-range states of Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and more, the humiliation and harassment of pachyderms are routine as habitat destruction and encroachment trigger traumatic conflict on both humans and wildlife. This image brought global attention to this issue.</p>
<p><em>Image: Biplab Hazra, Winner, Open Category, Conservation, Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2017</em></p>
