Dear Friends,
Wild Dogs - also known as 'Painted Wolves' - are among Africa's most enigmatic and endangered creatures. They have never been successfully domesticated, and said to be so distantly related to the domestic dog, there is no chance they would ever mate and produce offspring.
The species was discovered in 1820, established to be a canid and got its scientific name of Lycaon Pictus. Native to the African continent, Wild Dogs were found on savannah, semi-deserts, forests and bushland. They were brutally persecuted over the last century and driven into smaller and smaller areas, and only their tenacity and strength helped the species survive till today.
My image was captured in the Kruger Park last month. It depicts the excitement when a few members of a large pack (thirty three in total) prepared to go on a hunt. No aggression was displayed. The pups were not too small but were not allowed to join the adults, perhaps not strong enough or not fast enough...Or maybe too playful and naughty
Nikon D4
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 1250
F7.1
1/3 EV
1/2000s
Image processed in LR and PSCC. Almost FF. I have a few 'cleaner' and simpler images in this folder as well as some portraits, just thought it might be less boring for you to see something different. The environment at the time was not ideal for photography... as you can see, just sticks everywhere. The earth was dry and thick brown dust filled the air every time the dogs ran around. I did my best to capture as much as I could of their life and behaviour, overjoyed to be able to witness it.
Thank you kindly for viewing and I hope you find a few moments to give me your opinion on this thread - all comments welcome, be it of a technical nature or otherwise.
Warmest regards,