Seven Indian wildlife documentaries have been selected for British Environment Film Fellowships for 2006. Each fellowship, worth Rs 6,00,000 has been awareded to its filmmakers, Sonya V. Kapoor, Gurmeet Sapal, Himanshu Malhotra, Jay Mazoomdar, Kalpana Subramanian, Ashima Narain and Balan. The fellowships have been awarded for lauding their steps towards checking wildlife crimes.

While announcing the fellowships, British High Commissioner to India, Michael Arthur said, “Wildlife crime is an issue of grave concern for all of us today. India is home to thousands of rare flora and fauna including the tiger, the sloth bear and the musk deer among many other endangered species.”

“We all have to role to play in helping to sustain this rich diversity and today, we are offering seven fellowships worth Rs 6,00,000 each to these enterprising filmmakers to document these challenges. Through this collaborative venture between the UK and Indian filmmakers, we hope to address the larger issues of conservation of some of the world’s rarest species,” he further added.

The documentary filmmakers are expected to complete their work by December. The films will be aired on Discovery Channel and would also be