With so many pictures from our Tanzania trip I wanted to something different than my usual wildlife photography style. I have tried to compile a series of five pictures which I call “Animal Portraits”. Each of these animals are from a group referred to as the African Big Five.
The term Big Five was coined by the big-game hunters and refers to the animals reputedly most difficult to hunt. The term is still in popular used by tourist going on wildlife safaris. The big five consists of the Lion, the African elephant, the Cape Buffalo, the Leopard and the Black Rhinoceros. The intense hunting and poaching has had a telling effect, the Lion and African bush elephant are now classified as vulnerable (This does not include the Indian, Asian or African elephant.) The Leopard is classified as near threatened. The Black Rhinoceros is classified as critically endangered. The African Buffalo is still the most popular Big Five to hunt as its conservation status is least concern.
Of the five – the most difficult to shoot was the Charge of the Black Rhino, It was low light, raining and the subject was rapidly closing in on the rickety vehicle which we were in and I wanted to wait till it was just about full frame and also ensure that I caught the rain drops….
All the pictures I have uploaded on flickr in resolution of 1920×1080 and are under Creative Commons License. Grab them they make a great wallpaper
