Al Ain Zoo on Saturday night hosted an awards ceremony to recognise the winners of its photography competition, Zoography, which saw great local and international turnout by amateur and professional photographers, who competed in two categories - monochrome lens and colour lens for wildlife photography.

Winners of the first three awards in the colour lens category were Musallam Al Deri'e from the UAE, Roger Alfonso and Jeffery Jilano from the Philippines.

The monochrome lens winners were Eric Pirales and Ciliceo Sirrier, who are both from the Philippines, along with Shajesh Chanemgen from India.

Awards valued at a total of AED 100,000 were presented to winners, including AED 25,000 to first-place winners, AED 15,000 to second-place winners and AED 10,000 to third-place winners.

During his inauguration speech, Ghanim Mubarak Al Hajeri, Director-General of the Zoo & Aquarium Public Institution in Al Ain, hailed the success of the awards over previous years, highlighting the eighth edition in 2019 when participations amounted to 4,000 photos from 35 countries both locally and regionally. The Zoo has pushed through with its efforts to ensure the award's success and continuity despite the spread of COVID-19.

He praised the participant's commitment towards documenting the beauty of nature and the abundance of fauna and flora diversity in Al Ain Zoo, and concluded by thanking the judging committee for its credibility and professionalism in selecting photos that meet the high technical criteria, as well as the award’s work team.

The goal of the Zoography Awards is to convey Al Ain Zoo's message by highlighting the natural and wildlife using expressive photos. It also allows amateur and professional photographers, both locally and globally, to showcase their creative work. The judging panel members were selected from a pool of specialised experts, including Yousuf Al Zaabi, Abdullah Al Buqaish and Suleiman Al Hamadi.

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