WILDLIFE | African Painted Wolves of iMfolozi

Images captured in January 2017 - 1 day spent in iMfolozi park. I was travelling solo through the park on a cold and rainy day, with a constant trickle of raindrops gently re-hydrating the parched ground throughout the day. I set out to find the Bhejane pack who I was lucky enough to photograph a few months earlier when the pups started exploring and moving further away from their den.

At one point I somehow felt the need to change course and turned back. I was mere seconds away from being blocked by a massive elephant bull who had been making his way to the road.

I happily continued on my way only to come across another 2 massive elephant bulls who were having a slight "disagreement" in the road. Fortunately they pushed each other off the road just far enough for me to pass.

I managed to get one or two photos before they both turned towards me and started walking back towards the road. I decided to continue on my way but stopped every couple of hundred meters to get more photos of the two bulls - two of the tallest elephants I have ever seen in this park.

Upon arriving at a pan situated close to the road, I noticed two giraffes necking.

I was hoping to spend more time with these two, who were battling it out on the opposite end of the watering hole. Unfortunately I was not able to stick around for too long as I had still had two elephant bulls on my tail. They had calmly, but steadily been following me up the road for approximately 2 kms already and really seemed to be on a mission to get somewhere in quite a hurry - so I had to continue on my way to maintain a safe distance.

I decided to pick up my pace to give the two bulls more space - over a few hills and around a couple of bends - suddenly my heart skipped a beat - a pack of wild dogs appeared over the horizon, followed by a "herd" of cars. It was not the Bhejane pack I had set out to find, but a different pack of about 12.

I decided to turn around and join the back of the queue. I remembered the two elephants who had been on my tail for a while now and were almost guaranteed to still be in the road. I was now following a line of cars pondering what would/could happen next. The elephants were in fact still making their way up the road and the wild dogs ducked off far into the thick bushes to the right when they met. Fortunately the elephants also decided to move off the road allowing the long line of vehicles to pass.

Being one of the last in the queue and taking my time, I managed to catch a few glimpses of the dogs and tried to maintain a steady pace continuing on. I came to the same pan where I had seen the giraffes necking a short while ago and decided instead of carrying on I would try my luck and see if the dogs would make an appearance in the open area near the water. After waiting several minutes two faces suddenly appeared behind me, followed by another to the left of me, and then the rest of the pack to the right. The entire pack had emerged!!! I was the only one who had decided to wait at the pan, and found myself completely surrounded by a pack of wild dog yet again..... what ensued was several minutes of a range of shenanigans - PURE BLISS!!!

A pup being disciplined

..... expressing a hint of confidence

.... and then realising you just got caught.