
The group of warthogs was up along the top of the ridge, trotting along tails pointed up, as usual. As we watched, they unexpectedly stopped and looked down on us, in our Land Cruiser. Almost immediately, they turned and angled their path toward us. They slowed to an unhurried pace and appeared to be casually grazing, but they kept a constant route directly at us.
We had been photographing a Tawny Eagle defending it's recently slain Kirk's Dik Dik prey from scavengers, but it was losing that battle to a gathering of hyenas, jackals, vultures and even a Marabou Stork who was, you guessed it, "just standing around" for a share. We took our last shots as the eagle flew of with the largest portion it could save and the others crashed into each other vying for the remnants of the tiny antelope torso. Then we shifted our attention. Why were these warthogs so focussed on heading directly at us?
As the warthogs came at us, we zoomed our lenses in to capture better images of their bodies and faces. We could see why they had come by their name, but the lead animal had a strange, engaging look about her. Our guides advised she was female. It was she who was the apparent leader of the group and it was she who was fixated on the path toward us. Steadily closer they came, right up to us and she, the leader, right into the shadow cast by our our vehicle. Her long face almost filled my entire viewfinder.
As I waited for her to get back into better light, I took a long look at her face. Her snout was down, but her eyes seemed to twinkle and almost wink occasionally, glancing upward. Was it the sunlight or was it my imagination? "I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. Photographer," she seemed to be saying with an almost coy glance. What else could I do? Almost blushing, I obliged her.
We had been photographing a Tawny Eagle defending it's recently slain Kirk's Dik Dik prey from scavengers, but it was losing that battle to a gathering of hyenas, jackals, vultures and even a Marabou Stork who was, you guessed it, "just standing around" for a share. We took our last shots as the eagle flew of with the largest portion it could save and the others crashed into each other vying for the remnants of the tiny antelope torso. Then we shifted our attention. Why were these warthogs so focussed on heading directly at us?
As the warthogs came at us, we zoomed our lenses in to capture better images of their bodies and faces. We could see why they had come by their name, but the lead animal had a strange, engaging look about her. Our guides advised she was female. It was she who was the apparent leader of the group and it was she who was fixated on the path toward us. Steadily closer they came, right up to us and she, the leader, right into the shadow cast by our our vehicle. Her long face almost filled my entire viewfinder.
As I waited for her to get back into better light, I took a long look at her face. Her snout was down, but her eyes seemed to twinkle and almost wink occasionally, glancing upward. Was it the sunlight or was it my imagination? "I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. Photographer," she seemed to be saying with an almost coy glance. What else could I do? Almost blushing, I obliged her.