Collected Moments of Survival

The magnificence of a Male Lion with his mane in full flow In the wake of the what has to be termed a Paradigm Shift for lions in the wild and on Lion Day I am reminded of the many experiences I have had with lions on the plains of Africa. Getting close to lions ranks right up there with being some of the most exciting experiences that any one person can hope to see today. It is the one factor that I think has galvanised the world into action post Cecil the Lion. However, it is one thing seeing a single lion strutting his stuff out there in the African bush and an entirely different experience when one is privy to the might of the pride. In areas where lions are pressurised by other pack animals such as hyenas, the pride becomes paramount to survival and as such even male lions that can be solitary will form their own prides which we call coalitions. Happening on a coalition of male lions in the bush is a heart stopping event. The sheer power that a male lion demons...

Being ready should be the watch word for every wildlife photographer out there. Seasoned photographers (such as myself) know that at any moment anything can happen and as such a photographer will sit with camera at the ready, on standby mode while periodically changing the camera settings as the light changes. However, Murphy is always occupying the seat next to yours and you are lulled into complacency. Whenever conditions are such that you know that any self-respecting big cat will be tucked away into the deepest thicket they can find to get away from the searing heat of a Kalahari November day, that lethargic complacency will be at its most prevalent. And then it happens! Three subadult cheetah appear suddenly from nowhere, the light is atrociously bright, the heat waves are making a mockery of the lens stabilisation system and of course no super telephoto lens will have (or need to have) a polariser or ND filter so as to reduce the reflections being thrown at it by the gli...