Home > Blog > April 9, 2017 – Impala Sparring, Chapman's Zebra, and Baby African Elephant in Kruger National Park, South Africa

April 9, 2017
Impala Sparring, Chapman's Zebra, and Baby African Elephant in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Jan and I have completed our visit to Kruger National Park and South Africa where we spent four nights at the Letaba rest camp, and once again shooting was extremely slow. We did have two exciting sightings though. The first was two Honey Badger (Mellivora capensis) that crossed the road about 20 yds or 20m ahead of us, but they quickly disappeared into the grass and brush. The second was a pack of about 20 African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) that were heading towards us about 50 yds (45m) down the road, but they were just beginning to head off into the thick brush.
Impala Bucks Sparring
Impala Bucks Sparring
Kruger National Park, South Africa
Canon EOS 1D X Mk II, 600 f4 IS II, 1/2000 sec, f4, ISO 400
Image taken on April 2, 2017.
We did have a nice time photographing this pair of Impala (Aepyceros melampus) bucks sparring for an extended time in a nice location with diffuse light.

Chapman's Zebra
Chapman's Zebra
Kruger National Park, South Africa
Canon EOS 1D X Mk II, 600 f4 IS II & 1.4x III, 1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO 200
Image taken on April 4, 2017.
I enjoyed photographing this tight group of Chapman's Zebra or Plains Zebra (Equus quagga chapmani) that lead to this somewhat abstract image.

Baby African Elephant
Baby African Elephant
Kruger National Park, South Africa
Canon EOS 1D X Mk II, 100-400 II (at 278mm), 1/250 sec, f6.7, ISO 800
Image taken on April 6, 2017.
We had a blast photographing this days-old African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) calf on our last morning to end the visit on an up note. The mother was fairly relaxed even though she was still bleeding and it appeared that she was still trying to expel the placenta. The calf was still a bit wobbly on his feet, and he didn't really understand where to go to nurse. In this image, he finally tried at the correct end of his mother, but was on the wrong side of her front leg.

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