Photography Forum

1/31/2018

Hooray for Rhinos in the Okavango Delta!

It's hard to suggest a silver-lining to the poaching crisis that has decimated South Africa's once-abundant rhino population, but it's also true that it has been the principal catalyst for the reintroduction of rhinos to Botswana's Okavango Delta, where they have flourished beyond the most optimistic expectations.
 
Rhinos can be difficult to photograph – they are monochromatic grey with small eyes, ponderous bodies, and downward-hanging heads. White rhinos in particular tend to be quite docile, with little obvious charisma. The key to creating memorable rhino photos is to capture them in a beautiful and interesting setting, and it's hard to imagine a more perfect backdrop than the Okavango Delta.
 

Locally extinct for more than 20 years, rhinos have settled back into the Delta like ducks to a lake in Xanadu. The Delta's unique habitat of open floodplains and grasslands interspersed with wooded islands provides an ideal canvas for portraying the pre-historic majesty of these behemoths, and the complete exclusivity of the private concessions on which they are located lends sightings an almost utopic aura.
 

It's not surprising then that the wildlife highlight of my recent trip to southern Africa was watching a black rhino bull patrol the Mombo floodplains in pre-dawn light, serenaded by a "dawn chorus" of birdsong on a gentle,aromatic breeze. The encounter was awe-inspiring and, although the resulting images barely do it justice, I knew instantly that the Delta is now my favorite venue in Africa to photograph rhinos. And the good news is that, if things in Botswana carry on the way they're going, the opportunities will only get better!  

Click Here to view more images from Pierre's October safari to southern Africa.