05 October 2009

Elephants, South Luangwa NP, Zambia

ElephantsWe watched a small group of elephants pass by in the dry and shimmering morning heat. Places like South Luangwa National Park do their best to preserve the ghost of Africa past — the great continent teeming with wildlife; humans subordinate; extinction a natural process. Now the large mammals have gone or are rapidly vanishing from outside the parks — and in some cases from within, also; humans dominate; extinction accelerates.
[May 2007]
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

3 comments:

Barbara Butler McCoy said...

This is a beautiful shot, poignant. It hits a place of quiet inside one, I think.

Batteson.Ind said...

something about this picture sums everything up.... love the raggedness in it... and the melancholy..

pohanginapete said...

Barbara; Watercats: thanks. Seeing animals like these — wild, real, roaming — was immensely thrilling, but knowing what was happening outside these parks (and Luangwa is one of the largest and best looked after) subdued the excitement. There's still hope, but in any region that can change suddenly, as Zimbabwe has demonstrated too clearly.