Morning walk leads 9-year-old Shreyovi Mehta to win award in Wildlife Photographer of Year competition

Shreyovi Mehta bagged the runner-up position in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in the '10 Years and Under' category. What’s the story behind her win? Well, it was a chance encounter with two peahens on a morning stroll through the forests of Keoladev National Park in Bharatpur put Mehta in the limelight today, news agency PTI reported.

She won at the 60th edition of the prestigious award by Natural History Museum (NHM). The Class 5 student from Faridabad will receive a medal at an award ceremony at the Natural History Museum in London on October 8.

Titled "In the Spotlight", Mehta's photo showed a pair of peahens, silhouetted under a canopy of trees at Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, India, PTI reported. It added that Mehta's picture was among nearly 60,000 photographs by participants of all ages and experience levels from 117 countries and territories.

Speaking about her achievement, Shreyovi Mehta said she wants to continue practising wildlife photography. "I am glad that my image of our national bird has been given recognition by Natural history Museum at the biggest stage of wildlife photography. I will continue to practice so that one day even our national animal - the tiger gets the same recognition," Mehta told PTI.

"In this selection you see species diversity, a range of behavior and conservation issues. These images represent the evolution of the competition through the years, from pure natural history to photography that fully embraces representation of the natural world - the beauty and the challenges," Kathy Moran, chair of the judging panel, said in a statement.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will open at the NHM on October 11 and will run till June 29, 2025.

(With inputs from agencies)