CHRISUNET VAN DER WALT

Canon PowerShot SX70 CHRISUNET WRITES:

Like any other morning in the Kruger Park, my husband Werner and I were up early and left Pretoriuskop as soon as the gates opened. We couldn’t wait to see what the veld had to offer, but there weren’t many animals about.

We later decided to head to Skukuza to get something to eat. When we reached the high-water bridge across the Sabie River, we saw two vehicles pulled over. We wondered what they were looking at and it turned out to be wild dogs! There were about 32 of them in the riverbed below, looking for a safe place to cross the croc-infested waters.

They trotted up and down and communicated with each other with yelps and whimpers. At one stage, they all leapt onto a rock. “There’s your photo,” Werner whispered and I took a series of shots.

The entire episode lasted about 10 minutes. Eventually one of the dogs was brave enough to jump into the water and swim across, and the rest of the pack followed. Everyone made it safely across, where they excitedly interacted with each other as if they hadn’t seen each other in ages.

TOAST SAYS: Jeez, Chrisunet, I think you saw more wild dogs in the Sabie River than I’ve seen in my entire life! At first I thought this shot had been Photoshopped!

I like that you used a wide frame. I can see about 22 of the 32 dogs. People often zoom in too far to get close-ups of animals, but sometimes a wider shot tells the story. In this case, it’s about the pack as a whole, led by the one in the front, which is wearing a collar so that researchers can follow its movements.

The line of dogs stretches from one end of the frame to the other – a wave of wild dogs!

This is a very unique picture – thanks for sharing it with us, Chrisunet.