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Hi Niek
So, now the landscape artist have become a big game hunter with that rapid firing Canon of yours. Great stuff, I like it. As you said in one of your earlier postings, you decided to seize your opportunity with the borrowed lens and for that you chose to shoot the animals in the zoo since they can not run away. By now I am sure you realise that it is still not a walk in the park as there still are many hiding places for the animals or they just don’t want to stand where you want them to be. Anyway, you seem to have managed rather well and are now entertaining us with these lovely trophies you captured.
Your question about which sub-species this might be is not so easy, but I would risk my reputation (whatever) that it is probably a southern white rhino. The differences between the two sub-species are minimal and I doubt that anybody would be able to identify which is which by just looking at this photo. However, the northern sub-species are extremely rare and in 2000 it was estimated that there might be only 36 of these animals left. At least 30 of these were located in Garamba National Park located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The sad news is that over the last 2½ years rampant poaching amid civil disorder has reduced the northern white rhino to between 5 and 10 animals. The remainder is surviving in the Sudan, but they are no longer a viable population either.
The crooked-horn phenomena are not so unfamiliar with rhinos, I’ve seen quite a number of rhinos that sport such twisters, but I’m not sure what the cause of it is. I will see if I can find anything on that and let you know. Rhino horn is made of keratin (just like our fingernails and hair) and has no healing properties. Maybe if one can answer the question why some people have ingrown toenails you might be close to answer why some rhinos have these odd shaped horns (chuckle).
Anyway, back to your photo. I like this tight cropped in-your-face vertical composition and the darkish disposition as it gives the photo a little bit of a temperamental quality. The details and colours are great.
Good work and TFS.
Regards
Loot |
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SunToucher
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