After eight long, sleepless nights inside a sunken hideout in a forest in Kenya, 60-year-old Calcutta-based wildlife photographer and businessman Rajarshi Banerji finally got the shot he had been waiting for: a pride of lionesses and their cubs drinking from a waterhole, barely 5 metres from his den.
The photograph, taken at 2.30am on the eighth night of his vigil, was selected for the first prize at the Global Big Cats Photography Competition 2025, held in Delhi on Wednesday. Banerji received the award from Bhupender Yadav, Union minister for environment, forest and climate change.
The dramatic image — one of 1,000 frames shot that night — was taken in September 2023 during Banerji’s stay at Lentorre Lodge, a boutique safari resort in the Olkiramatian Conservancy in Kenya’s Nguruman escarpment region, Kajiado County.
“For five nights, I could hear the lions roaring nearby but never saw them. Every morning, I would return to my room empty-handed,” said Banerji, a resident of Hindusthan Park, on Friday. “But I had booked the photography hide for as long as it took to get the shot I wanted.”
The underground photography hide, launched in September 2020, is a sunken, air-conditioned space at the edge of a waterhole, offering photographers an eye-level view of wildlife through one-way glass. The animals cannot see in, but photographers have a clear view out. The hide is soundproofed, professionally lit, and equipped with bunk beds for overnight stays.
“Most guests book it for one to three nights. I stayed until I got the shots I wanted,” said Banerji, who was sometimes alone and at times joined by other photographers. During the wait, he captured porcupines, a cheetah, and even a rare caracal. But his focus was the elusive lioness pride.
“On the eighth night, I was dozing off after being up for several nights. Around 2.30am, I saw movement in the dark and became alert. A large lioness appeared, followed by several cubs. Soon, more lionesses emerged from the jungle,” he recalled.
The adult lionesses first circled the area cautiously, checking for threats. Once they felt safe, they gathered around the waterhole and began drinking. “They were absolutely silent. The cubs played and splashed water,” said Banerji.
At one point, nine adult lionesses and several cubs were in view. He kept shooting, trying to capture the perfect moment. “The challenge is timing. When they drink, their eyes go down and their tongues flick in and out. I waited for a frame where all their eyes were looking up and their tongues were out — I got one with all the eyes looking up and five tongues out,” he said.
After about 30 minutes, the lionesses began to leave. “But the cubs stayed back and continued playing. Two even came close to the hide to explore,” Banerji said.
It was his first time seeing a pride of lionesses at night. “I’ve been photographing dangerous mammals for 40 years. I’ve taken pictures of lions during the day, but this was the first time I saw a pride at night,” he said. Banerji has earlier photographed tigers, polar bears, grizzly bears, elephants, whales, and penguins — including in Antarctica.
According to Raaji Singh Bharij, owner of Lentorre Lodge and a veteran of high-end Kenyan tourism for 20 years, sightings of lioness prides at night are rare. “Around 300 clients use the photography hide each year. This year, there have been only five such sightings,” said Bharij. He designed the hide so that it does not disturb the wildlife. The driest periods in Kenya — February to March and September to October — are considered the best times for such encounters, he added.
The award ceremony in Delhi was organised by the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change, in collaboration with the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), Aarts Maestro, and the Uttar Pradesh EcoTourism Development Board. It served as a pre-summit event for the Global Summit on Big Cat Conservation, slated for 2026.
According to a government official release, 456 entries were shortlisted after multiple rounds of evaluation, before the final jury picked the winning images.