I agree that wildlife photographers are a major force in destroying the habitat and harassing animals and birds these days. Some of the actions are unintentional, like the destroying of the grasslands of Hessarghatta. Some other actions by photographers, who shall remain unnamed here, are deliberate and are devoid of any kind of ethics.

I was in Banni grasslands this year, and the entry points were completely devoid of grass or has dead vegetation due to overgrazing, overuse or excessive plying of vehicles etc. When one drives in some 10-15 kms, the grassland becomes better. If there were only a few vehicles plying, then it would have been tolerable. However, with so many photographers wanting to get that shot, it is near impossible for hessarghatta to survive.

Earlier only photographers with long telephoto lenses were attempting to do bird photography. With the advent of digital, people crop 100% and just show the bird. So even if the bird is completely out of range, people still try to photograph and push their vehicles into the grasslands. Earlier, people used to walk and sit at a place and try photographing birds who come closer. Now our approach has become different. Given that this study has shown the impact on the Hessarghatta grasslands, I am sure photographers will overcome their urge of driving and destroying this ecologically fragile place.