African Elephant Mother and Calf, Laikipia, KenyaThere’s been a lot of talk of elephants in the news this past week. I don’t like to get political on this blog, but let’s just hope the president has come to his senses and sticks to his word about keeping the Obama ban on elephant carcasses into the United States. Granted his change of heart has been spurred by public outcry, but he has promised to review the issue further this week and doubts he will side with those that say we must kill elephants to save elephants. I’ve heard all the arguments about trophy hunting actually being a good thing for the conservation of the species and none of them seem to hold any water. Other than the obvious illogic of killing an endangered animal to help save it, the money from these hunts benefits the hunting outfitters and corrupt local officials, not any legitimate conservation efforts. Anyone who has been fortunate enough to observe elephants in the wild knows that they are among the planet’s most majestic creatures, while anyone who needs one of their heads stuffed and mounted on a wall in their home, has a host of other issues to deal with. So c’mon Mr. President, make this be the week that I can like you. At least for a little while. As for the two beauties above, they were photographed on the plains of Ol Pajeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second