michali Posted December 30, 2009 Share #1 Posted December 30, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) M9 & 35mm Summilux Following on from Jaap's thread and his touching photograph of 2 guys holding an orphaned baby baboon: Back in March I posted this picture of Spirit a 5 day old orphaned kudu. His mother had been killed by some cheetah. My partner's children immediately adopted him. Spirit is now 9 months old, just over 1.2m at the shoulder and becoming a handful. He doesn't know his strength and has kicked several Land Rover doors in. [ATTACH]180430[/ATTACH] Here he is trying to come into my house to eat everything in sight. As cute as he looks, his horns are just starting to grow and without realising it he will become more dangerous, having lost his natural fear of humans. Kudu like many antelope head butt each other in territorial duels lasting up to 20 minutes, sometimes to the death. The last thing I would want is him trying to head butt me in a territorial battle over my kitchen and its contents! This adds fuel to the debate about hand-rearing wild animals........ [ATTACH]180431[/ATTACH] Thanks for viewing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 30, 2009 Posted December 30, 2009 Hi michali, Take a look here Spirit the orphaned Kudu @ the door 2 pics. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
pauledell Posted December 30, 2009 Share #2 Posted December 30, 2009 Mike, A great record of your effort to protect and raise the Kudu. It will be a sad story when you have to release it to the wild, but a neccessary move. Thanks for sharing. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allamande Posted December 30, 2009 Share #3 Posted December 30, 2009 Wow, he is so graceful, so beautiful... Especially glowing in the second shot. I can see how this can be a big dilemma, how do you let go, when the time comes? More to the point, how will he know that he has to move on? Keep us posted. Ece Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted December 30, 2009 Share #4 Posted December 30, 2009 Mike - Delightful shots, subject and narrative. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
michali Posted January 3, 2010 Author Share #5 Posted January 3, 2010 Paul, Ece & Stuart- Thank you for taking the time to comment. Wow, he is so graceful, so beautiful... Especially glowing in the second shot. I can see how this can be a big dilemma, how do you let go, when the time comes? More to the point, how will he know that he has to move on? Keep us posted. Ece Ece- He's starting to wander further and further from the lodge. The danger is that being hand reared he doesn't have all the inbuilt protection mechanisms that a he would normally have as a completely wild animal. He's vulnerable to the lions, leopards, hyaena and cheetah who are around. The plan is to move him to another reserve where there are no predators. Will keep you posted. All the best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dopaco Posted January 3, 2010 Share #6 Posted January 3, 2010 The 1 an image very tender Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 3, 2010 Share #7 Posted January 3, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) I quite agree. In Lower Zambezi, years ago, I don't recall which camp, they had a tame Impala called Andy. One day he wandered into a local village and ended up being eaten... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdb Posted January 7, 2010 Share #8 Posted January 7, 2010 #1, so tender. Just stop and enjoy the image. In that moment, there are no problems. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
michali Posted January 7, 2010 Author Share #9 Posted January 7, 2010 Virgil- Thank you. All's good, I've come to an arrangement with a reserve not too far away from us who have no predators and they're more than happy to take him. Good news! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albert Posted January 12, 2010 Share #10 Posted January 12, 2010 MIKE, I'm late as usual. My wife and I really enjoyed these photographs and the story this morning. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roguewave Posted January 12, 2010 Share #11 Posted January 12, 2010 Mike, thanks for showing us these images & informing us about the circumstances. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
michali Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share #12 Posted January 13, 2010 Al & Ben- Thank you for viewing and commenting, I always appreciate the feedback from you guys. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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