Could not make up my mind which Spotted Hyena image to share as I have quite a few from this sighting. Slipped up here a bit in terms of SS, but quite liked the pose
It was slightly overcast that day. In fact the light was constantly changing and my subject moved around from light shade to deep shade. At times she made eye contact, albeit briefly. She seemed distraught and let out certain moaning calls I have never heard before. Every now and then she sniffled the ground as if looking for something.
We were unable to figure out what caused her distress, perhaps it was the presence of a snake or scent of another predator. My first thought was that one of her cubs disappeared...But that is unlikely, because the species only have two functional nipples and rarely succeed in lactating three cubs.
Talking about cubs, when we arrived at the scene we noticed two little ones being led away by a few clan members, they were probably moving them to a safer location. Mama hyena stayed behind for a while. She was in very good shape, surprisingly her ears were still intact and she had very few scars. A slight limp from one limb but hardly noticeable.
I really love the species, so for me a huge privilege to be able to spend time with them in the wild and learn about their behaviour. I have lots of images for you... hope you won't get bored with my threads
Nikon D5
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 4000
F8
+1/3EV
1/640s
Used bean bag as support
Processed in LR and PSCC, and it's FF
Thank you so much for your time to view, your kind comments, and RP's on my previous images - always appreciated
Spotted Hyena ( Kruger National Park)
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