BACK TO THE WILD WITH ALAN FENTON
Acknowledgements: To my beloved wife, Priscilla, who has supported me in and out of the wild. Thanks to my old friend Brian Dowling, the doyen of fashion photographers, and since our meeting some years ago, of animal photos. To Joe Cox, another old friend, who introduced me to Brian. A true professional. To Patrick Grealy for his generous help in identifying animals and remembering their stories. To Joanne Lefson the lady who trained Pigcasso, the pig, to paint and has saved approximately 5,000 dogs from certain death. To my brilliant personal assistant Ann Clelland.
Introduction: About one hundred years ago a few South Africans who owned parcels of land in the Sabi Sabi area, visited the bush for vacations, accompanied by an increasing number of friends and family. They came to the bush to shoot (not with cameras, but with guns). They shot for the pot, ie to eat, but they also shot predators such as lions, leopards, cheetahs etc. Many photographs of their hunting expeditions exist to this day, and hang on the walls of Game Reserves such as Londolozi, Mala Mala and Sabi-Sabi. I have been taking photographs in various Game Reserves in Africa for many years. Most of them will celebrate their centenary in a few years’ time During those one hundred years there has been a dramatic change:- the hunters have become environmentalists, and for many years these Reserves, have attracted visitors who come for the excellent accommodation and food, and also for the warm welcome they always receive from those who run the reserve. But above all, they come to see wild animals in their natural habitat. Sadly the story is not all a happy one. Because of man’s activities (culling, over exploitation, hunting, overfishing, and various kinds of pollution) there is a danger that a half of African birds and mammals will be extinct by the end of 2100. These forecasts are produced by experts of the United Nations. The extinction of animals would lead to various environmental problems affecting the survival of plants which are vital for man’s survival. In short, without animals, we would all die. The private game reserves are performing a vital service in protecting the environment and indeed humanity. They have become successful businesses employing many people to run them. As a result more and more visitors come from all over the world to view animals, and to enjoy the smells, the sights and the sounds of the bush.
Introduction continued… There is still hope, but all is not as it should be. Until about 1994 Kenya, Botswana and the Kruger Park were exterminating about 4000 elephants a year. The public outcry was so great that this vile practice was stopped, although, incredibly, there are still advocates of the culling of elephants. Still today tens of thousands of elephants are killed by poachers for their ivory. There continues to be – especially in the north of Africa - unnecessary killing of predators. For example, someone will drive cattle into areas frequented by predators (a quite unnecessary thing to do), and if by chance one of the cattle is killed by a lion, speedy revenge is taken. What revenge? Poison is put down in large areas of the bush. The result is often the prolonged death in agony of predators (even a whole pride of lions) and other animals as well. This is cruel, vengeful, and quite unnecessary. A vile practice that must be stopped! It is a shame and a disgrace (especially to China and Vietnam) that many thousand rhinos are slaughtered every year. Demand for rhino horn in these countries inflates the price to absurd levels. Encouraged by the governments of these two countries uneducated people believe in miracles produced by consuming rhino horn – cure of cancer, birth of male children, long life etc etc. What is called traditional Chinese medicine is largely total nonsense. These criminal activities could be stopped by the governments of China and Vietnam in a matter of days. However, they do nothing. A white rhino horn fetches many thousand dollars. A black rhino horn up to one hundred and thirty thousand dollars! Not content with slaughtering rhino, the delightful and beautiful animal the
Introduction continued… pangolin, is being slaughtered at the rate of about 2.7 million per annum on the absurd promise that eating them will bring wealth and success! The truth is that it is not elephants or lions or leopards or rhinos who are the intruders in the bush. It is man! We must find a way to open up corridors for elephants to roam in, and we must discourage cattle farmers and hunters who delight in shooting predators. People still come from all over the world to shoot lions, leopards, cheetahs, and other beautiful predators of the bush. They call themselves hunters – and they would be hunters if they had the courage to walk into the bush with a gun and stalk their prey. Far from doing that, they are driven to the lions or leopards they intend to shoot, and kill them at point blank range. All to hang the heads on their walls. They are not hunters. They are brutal killers. What they do is a crime- a crime against the environment, a crime against mankind. Forgive me if I quote a verse from my “101 Verses” book: The Hunter I shot a hunter in the fall, And gave his neck a trim. His head looks better on the wall Than it ever did on him. We - all of us - have a sacred duty to protect the environment. If we do not, then, in a few years, there will be no animals, no trees, no plants. The environment will no longer protect us. There will be no us. Learning to love and live with the creatures we share our world with will save us, and them.
Mother leopard and her cub Thereby hangs a tail…
Father leopard telling his cub to buzz off!
Mother leopard carrying her kill up tree
There’s no shoe tastes as good as a ranger’s shoe!
Cheetahs in the mist
Two cheetah cubs We can see for miles!
Leopard cub in tree thinks he has heard something
Mother leopards like nothing better than playing with their young
Drinking leopard
Portrait, leopard at night A beautiful leopard caught in the lamplight. She’s on a kill – notice the blood on her nose
A very rare sighting of a tug of war using a python the young leopards have killed
I am trying to push this tree over – but it’s difficult
Leopard cub practicing killing by chewing on a tree
Leopard up a tree – asleep on a kill!
Leopard carrying inyala she has just killed
Leopard snarling at a hyena Leopards hate hyenas because they steal their kills
Mother leopard caressing her cub
Mother leopard cuddling her cub
Cheetah enjoying mother’s tail
Cheetah cub playing with mother
Leopard cub with its first kill
Mother leopard and cub
Leopard cub on a branch
Lions playing
Leopard carrying its very rare kill – a chacma baboon
Leopard relaxing on tree …without a care in the world
Leopard with fresh inyala kill
Leopard attacked by hyenas it escaped – but only just!
Mother admonishing cub When I tell you to stop, stop!
Mother leopard loving her cub
Mother and daughter leopard in loving embrace
Leopards drinking
Leopard looking beautiful at night
Cheetah mother and cubs playing
Mother leopard telling us that beyond the tree is her kingdom and not ours
Leopard cubs playing
Lion cub relaxing on mother
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Lion drowning a buffalo
Mother lion and cub drinking
Rare view of lion family drinking together
Scratch my tummy please
That’s my tail you’ve got in your mouth
I am going to be a big lion one day
Lion cub sharpening his teeth on a twig
Time to move on little one
Loving lion brothers nestling
Lion mating at night
Lion attacking a buffalo
Lion mother and cub
No pillow like your brother’s shoulder
I love this branch
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Lion mother and cub
Lion carrying her cub to a safer den
Elephant drinking with young
“That elephant looks a bit too big for me to eat!”
This baby Elephant is less than one day old
Elephants playing
Cheetah carrying fresh kill
Who said that cheetahs can’t climb trees?
Cheetah looking for prey
Cheetah having fun
Cheetah between trees
A racing cheetah — the fastest animal in the bush
Another cheetah enjoying herself
Giraffe twins
Four cheetah cubs looking for mother
Cheetah cubs playing
First time in my life I’ve seen a giraffe!
First time I’ve seen an ostrich!
I’m trying to give up!
Zebras drinking
A tasty orange! I have eaten most of it
Mating warthogs
Dwarf mongooses Don’t move or we’ll run away!
Impalas rutting in mating season
Kudu
This hippo is there for me to stand on
Herd of water buffalo drinking
That’s some mouth you’ve got!
Hippos confronting each other
Very rare sighting of a cervil
Genet on tree at night
Squirrel warning the bush; “Leopard! Leopard! Leopard!”
Vultures advancing threateningly on cheetah and kill
Rhino calf resting on mother’s nose
Gabar goshawk killing a snake
Yellow hornbills fighting
White crested helmet shrikes are companiable birds To photograph them nesting together, however, is extraordinarily difficult because they tend to nest in dense trees
Giant kingfisher having his dinner
The mighty tawny eagle
Buffalo wallowing
Who are you staring at? We all look like this
Night owl. Who are you staring at?
Elephants love swimming in muddy water
Ostrich trying to attract a mate!
Mother elephant sheltering her baby
Rare shot of leopard attacking a hyena – its hated enemy
Four leopard cubs on rock
Lions relax like no other wild animals
Two lions quarrelling over food
Lion cub playing with twig
Male and female leopard caressing
Mother leopard and cub