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Elephant Pictures - Pg 2


The majority of elephant images in this gallery were taken in Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park, with the remainder taken in Botswana (Northern Tuli Game Reserve) and the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

If you visit the Tuli area on safari, you're more than likely to see many small "maternity" herds of elephants, allowing you to get pictures of elephant mothers with their babies.

However, elephants are very protective of their young and don't like you getting too close. It's advisable to balance the urge to capture a winning shot with respect for their space.

Click on picture to see larger version
Elephant family, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia Elephant eating branch, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia Elephant family defensive formation, Tuli Block, Botswana
Elephant with ears flapping, Kruger Park Elephant cow suckling calf Lone elephant with no tusks, Kruger National Park
elephant herd crossing river, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia Elephants wading in Chobe River, Botswana Elephant bull walking, Kruger National Park, South Africa
wildlife reference photos
Elephant group from the air Elephant front-on, ears flapping Elephant walking, side view, Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia
Elephant wading in shallows of river, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia Elephant wading in river, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia Elephant family on riverbanks, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia
Elephant mothers with calves, Botswana Elephant female herd, Tuli Block, Botswana Elephant mother and calf, Tuli Block, Botswana
Elephant reflected standing on banks of Limpopo River elephant reaching for fruit Elephant on banks of Zambezi River, Zambia
Breeding Herd
Although relaxed elephants will usually simply ignore a safari vehicle, it's not wise to push your luck with a breeding herd.

This means a good telephoto lens is essential for capturing family groups of mothers with babies. A medium zoom lens in the 70-200mm range is usually adequate for this.

Photographing Charging Elephants
National Geographic photographer Nick Nichols says that photographing elephants "is probably the most fun thing you can do as a wildlife photographer".

He writes: "Some of my best pictures are of charging elephants. Elephants are hunted heavily where I work, so they're afraid of humans, and if you get the right elephant, it'll charge.

"But I think it's almost always a bluff charge .... an elephant just wants us to go away, so she trumpets and charges a little bit, which makes for a dramatic moment. Of course, there's going to be the charge that's real, and I'm not sure I can read that. I usually run away, which you're not supposed to do."

If you'd like to find out more about African elephants, see Elephant Information, Elephant Biofile, and Elephant Communication.

Photo Thumbnail Captions:
Row 1:
1.Elephant family, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia
2.Elephant eating branch, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia
3.Elephant family in defensive formation, Botswana

Row 2:
1.Tuskless elephant, Kruger Park, South Africa
2.Mother elephant with youngster, Tuli Block, Botswana
3.Lone elephant with no tusks, Kruger Park, South Africa

Row 3:
1.Elephants crossing river, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia
2.Elephants wading, Chobe River, Botswana
3.Elephant bull, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Row 4:
1.Elephant group from the air, Moremi, Botswana
2.Elephant front-on with ears flapping
3.Elephant walking, side view, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia

Row 5:
1.Elephant on banks of river, Lower Zambezi, Zambia
2.Elephant wading, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia
3.Elephant family, Lower Zambezi NP, Zambia

Row 6:
1.Elephant mothers with calves, Botswana
2.Elephant female herd, Tuli Block, Botswana
3.Elephant mother and calf, Tuli Block, Botswana

Row 7:
1.Elephant and reflection, Tuli Block, Botswana
2.Elephant reaching for fruit, Zambia
3.Elephant on banks of Zambezi River, Zambia

See also Elephant Pictures Pg 3
Elephant Photos Bonus Page

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