WILDLIFE | A day with the painted dog
All the images below were taken during the course of ONE day on a recent trip. I spent most of the morning waiting in the vicinity of a Wild Dog den hoping to get lucky but unfortunately only caught a few glimpses through very dense vegetation. I had to go for a drive around midday to refuel in order to make it back home later that evening and captured many of these images along the way.
I returned to the den site in the afternoon and after waiting quietly for a few hours, my luck turned. The rest of the adults returned from their hunt stirring up a whole lot of commotion and chattering. After everything settled down a bit one of the pups started making it's way towards me, with the rest of the litter following close-by and I eventually had the entire litter under and around my car. Unfortunately many were out of view towards the back and behind my vehicle and the light had faded fast, but I still managed to capture some great images. - I didn't want to start or move my vehicle as that may have chased them back into the thickets, so missed out on a few special moments and interactions, but I'm still happy to have had the privilege to photograph these incredibly beautiful and rare animals, especially from so close... staring a puppy in the eyes from less than 2 meters away (pure bliss). Hope you enjoy the teaser - more wild dog images still to come.
Read MoreI returned to the den site in the afternoon and after waiting quietly for a few hours, my luck turned. The rest of the adults returned from their hunt stirring up a whole lot of commotion and chattering. After everything settled down a bit one of the pups started making it's way towards me, with the rest of the litter following close-by and I eventually had the entire litter under and around my car. Unfortunately many were out of view towards the back and behind my vehicle and the light had faded fast, but I still managed to capture some great images. - I didn't want to start or move my vehicle as that may have chased them back into the thickets, so missed out on a few special moments and interactions, but I'm still happy to have had the privilege to photograph these incredibly beautiful and rare animals, especially from so close... staring a puppy in the eyes from less than 2 meters away (pure bliss). Hope you enjoy the teaser - more wild dog images still to come.
