The real-life Jungle Book: Amazing photographs show the wonders of wild India, from magnificent tigers to adorable baby bears... and women who breast-feed orphaned gazelles

 

• German photographer Axel Gomille spent 25 years travelling across Indian subcontinent snapping pictures
• His images show the diversity of the country from the tropical south to the snow capped mountains in north
• Among his snaps are pictures of sloth bears, black bucks and the last surviving population of Asiatic tigers
• His stunning images now form part of a book, Wild India, which takes readers on a journey across India  

 From the tropics of the south coast to the snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas, these breathtaking images show the beauty of the wildlife of the Indian sub-continent.Photographer Axel Gomille spent 25 years travelling across India snapping pictures of the spectacular animals and landscapes.And the snaps now form part of a new book called Wild India, which takes readers on a journey across one of the world's largest countries.
 

Water can be in short supply in many parts of Ranthambhore. The forest department therefore created concrete water holes so as to keep water supply plentiful for the animals. Tigers use them for drinking and for cooling off, as in this case of this mother and her large cub

 Sloth bears commonly have a litter size of two. During the first months, the cubs are completely reliant on their mother. Some will stay with her for up to two and a half years before searching out new ranges. Sloth bears were once found from the southern foothills of the Himalayas to Sri Lanka, however, their present distribution is patchy, roughly corresponding to areas with remaining forest cover

 Asiatic wild dogs, also known as dholes, are extremely efficient predators. This photograph shows them having brought down a spotted deer in the Nagarhole National Park in Karnataka. Asiatic wild dogs can form large packs, and on some occasions they can even attack tigers. Today, their numbers are in serious decline, and the species has been listed as being endangered

 Ruins dot the park at Ranthambhore, which was once one of the former hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Jaipur. As a national park, the sambar deer, spotted deer and wild boar no longer need to fear people, however, they must still watch out for predatorsIndia's enormous landmass means there is a wide range of habitats with the biodiversity of the country one of the richest on Earth.And among the mammals that Mr Gomille has managed to capture on camera are sloth bears, nilgai and blackbuck.