Doctor bags seven gold medals for photography

A kidney transplant surgeon, Dr Ajit K Huilgol travels across the world to shoot wildlife

A 70-year-old Bengaluru surgeon has bagged seven gold medals for nature and travel photography at a contest hosted by a club in West Bengal.

Dr Ajit K Huilgol received 13 awards at the ClickU Summer Circuit 2021, hosted by the Barasat Camera Club.

One of India’s leading kidney transplant surgeons with 2,500 transplants to his credit, Huilgol was in the team that successfully performed the first kidney transplant in Karnataka in 1983.

He has also made a name for himself globally as a wildlife photographer. In 2008, he was granted an associateship of the Royal Photographic Society.

Although interested in wildlife since his childhood, he had put in decades of work as a doctor before he was able to indulge in his love for nature.

“In 2007, I was finally able to afford a good camera and started making small trips to wildlife sanctuaries,” he told Metrolife.

He began by visiting parks like Kabini and Bandipur in Karnataka, and has now covered wildlife destinations across the world.

“One of my most memorable trips was definitely to the Antarctic. There was something so surreal about the remoteness of the place. I saw various penguins and seals in their natural habitat,” he says.

The self-taught photographer plans to travel again once the international restrictions are lifted.

He is upset that habitats are dwindling. “You don’t have to look far to notice this. Just look at our own grasslands in Hesaraghatta and near Tumakuru. When I visited them years ago, they were a beautiful sight, filled with wildlife ranging from foxes to blackbucks, but now you barely find any wildlife there,” he says. He believes wildlife protection is being given importance, but not habitat protection.

“Grasslands are also forests that are the natural habitats for various animals. Planting tall and dense trees in grasslands is driving away animals from their habitats,” he explains.

Animal inbreeding a problem

Dr Huilgol says restricted core areas of the forests have become a breeding ground for illegal activities. He is also worried about inbreeding among animals. “The many nature reserves and sanctuaries that the government has set up are useful but they are creating a bigger problem of inbreeding. This is dangerous as it affects the health of the animals. We need to find a solution to this soon,” he says.