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“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” ~ Seneca.
In wildlife photography, you need an element of luck and you better be prepared as opportunities come and go in a flash.
I have long had a vision of capturing an elephant cresting a hill from above me, to truly showcase their scale, power and majesty. I’ve seen this shot in my mind’s eye many times. While heading out on a game drive, another vehicle came hurtling over the crest of a hill towards us, in reverse! I started to smile. They paused long enough to shout that a large elephant was chasing them down the road. My smile grew larger. Seeing the potential for my shot, I quickly positioned our vehicle side on for a quick getaway and readied my camera, knowing that I may only get a second to capture this shot.
I was prepared and ready, with the hope of the image i’d taken in my mind’s eye. What was incredibly lucky was that this wasn’t just any elephant. As this titan appeared from behind the hill, I immediately recognised him. It was Amarula, the biggest and oldest elephant bull in the Pilanesberg National Park, steaming towards us. Amarula has the infamous reputation of destroying a few vehicles in his time, so I fired off some shots for as long as I dared and swiftly existed his path.
When the Pilanesberg National Park was established in 1979, they embarked in “Project Genesis”, where over 6000 animals were introduced in the largest wildlife translocation in history. Due to the size of elephants, it was easier to translocate young orphaned elephants. The young bull elephants grew up to be very unruly teenagers with a lack of normal social structures in place. They reached sexual maturity unnaturally early with no mature bull elephants to keep them in check. They caused havoc, destroying vehicles and killing more than 40 rhinos.
It was decided to bring in the big guns to restore natural order to the Lord of the flies. Six large bull elephants were brought in from the Kruger National Park in 1997. Amarula was one of these big six. He was estimated at 65 years old when he died in 2022, he was an absolute giant of an elephant, an icon of Southern Africa and an ambassador of one of the most successful conservation efforts in the world.
What a privilege to photograph this colossus and immortalise one of Africa’s favourite giants.
