The big picture: Sitaram Raul’s bats in flight

A keen nature photographer living on the outskirts of Mumbai, Raul found himself unable to travel due to lockdown, so he began paying attention to the wildlife on his doorstep. “Outside my building there was a custard apple tree in full fruit, and one evening I saw four or five bats flying around it. So I thought: ‘The wildlife is coming next to me, so why not shoot here?’”

Later, on a trip back to his home village of Banda in western India’s Maharashtra state, he ventured into a 16th-century domed monument known as Rede Ghumat that had lain empty for as long as he could remember.

“When I was a child, people used to scare me: ‘Don’t go there – there are snakes and scorpions.’ It is really undisturbed, nature is literally taking over. And the dome is a perfect habitat for the bats – 400 or 500 fruit bats live there.”

Raul photographed the nocturnal inhabitants of Rede Ghumat on and off for three years, but this image, which was highly commended in the 2025 Wildlife photographer of the year competition, was taken on the first night. “It’s not a camera-trap image,” he says. “I was there amid the chaos.” The ruin was in total darkness and Raul had to guess where the bats might be, before clicking the shutter and briefly illuminating them with his flash. All the while, his subjects were “randomly pooping on me and the camera”.

It’s a scenario that would give even the most diehard Halloween fans the shivers, but Raul says he has nothing but admiration for bats. “Mammals that can fly: that is great, great evolution. And they use sonar too. I’m jealous of them,” he says, adding: “Also, I’m a big Batman fan.”

The Wildlife photographer of the year exhibition is at the Natural History Museum, London, until 12 July 2026. Raul’s photograph can also be seen in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio 35, published by the Natural History Museum (£28). It is available at the museum and online at nhmshop.co.uk