Marsh Pride Lions

I have to say that I was shocked and saddened this afternoon, to hear reports in the news that lions from the famed Marsh Pride in the Maasai Mara had been poisoned, with two confirmed dead as a result.

Jonathan Scott, zoologist, BBC presenter and author of a book about them said that they were popular with visitors because it was always possible to find them in the same place. However, of late, the pride had been pushed to the fringes by the Maasai needing to herd their cattle onto grazing land.

It was back in 2009 that I spent several amazing days in the Mara with Jonathan, staying with a group at Kicheche Camp and was able to observe this well known and well studied pride of lions, stars of BBC series Big Cat Diary.
I learnt it was possible to identify each individual from their whisker pattern and so it was easy for the lives of specific lions to be followed. One such popular lioness was Bibi, and sadly it appears she may have been one of the victims.

It seems that three men have now been charged with poisoning.
Reports are appearing online about the incident. It is a difficult one as grazing is in short supply and so when a lion attacks their cattle, they have every reason to be angry. However, to poison the animals is to poison the very thing that brings revenue to the region. As the lion population is falling, a careful balance must be struck between nature and natives.

It was with this news that I went back into my archives and pulled out a few shots from my time with the Marsh Pride. It is quite interesting to see how I look at shots I passed over back in 2006 and see them in a different light today, so do forgive me if I share a few with you now.

Enjoy!

UK Release of Disney's African Cats Today!

Sita (aka Shakira)

After a false start and a long wait, the UK general release of the Disney Nature, African Cats documentary film has finally happened! Prior to todays release, the Royal Premier took place on Wednesday evening at the BFI Southbank, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in attendance, the event also helping raise money for Tusk Trust.

The film has been adapted for the UK market, with Patrick Stewart now providing the narration, in favour of Samuel L Jackson, when it was released for the American market back in October.

I was fortunate to enjoy several sightings of Sita (also know to Big Cat Diary viewers as Shakira) during my visit to the Masai Mara in 2009. This magical evening encounter with her and her cubs, became one of the highlights of my visit to Kenya.

I now look forward to finally being able to enjoy this film, following my premature blog post back in October, and hope that it will recreate the true atmosphere of this special place.

Disney Nature: African Cats UK release

Sita aka Shakira

Meet Sita, star of the new Disney Nature film, African Cats, which was due to be released here in the UK this October 2011. Unfortunately it has now been delayed until Spring 2012 and it is still unclear if this film is to be released into the cinemas or straight to Bluray/DVD, although I believe it may be the latter.

So, why the interest? Well, here in the UK, Sita will already be familiar to those who were viewers of the BBC series Big Cat Diares, as Sita is better known here as Shakira. It seems strange that Disney decided to change her name when all the trackers out in the Masai Mara know her already as Shakira. Her name only has to be whispered over the radio and suddenly a myriad of jeeps rush to the sighting location. That was exactly what happened when I was out in the Masai Mara just two years ago, when I too observed this 'cover girl of the Mara Vogue' on several occasions.

Cheetah watch - Shakira and her cubs are lower far right.

Taking the successful BBC observational formula of the Big Cat Diaries, originally fronted by Simon King, and Jonathan Scott, (our expert guide during my visit to the Mara) Disney Nature focused on this cheetah and her cubs plus two groups of lions from the Marsh pride- also well known to UK viewers.

 My photographer companions, oh - and the Disney Nature film crew

Over a period of more than two years, Disney Nature filmed these big cats in the wild, Simon King being one of the team, and respecting the natural space in which they lived. They edited the footage together, bringing in Samuel L Jackson to narrate this wildlife documentary film. Reviews from the US release have been quite favourable, so if you enjoyed Big Cat Diaries, then you might just enjoy this latest offering from the Disney stables.

I'm really hoping this film will portray the magic of big cat life in the amazing Masai Mara, just as I experienced it. I will, of course, let you know.

In the Beginning

 

Where did I begin with photography?
Well, right here with this picture of a dear old cat called Judy.

One May evening when I was barely twelve years old, my aunt threw down a challenge.
"I wish we could get a picture of my cat lying here on this hedge"
I thought for a while, ran back to my home nearby, and breathlessly asked my dad if I might be able to borrow his camera. Fully expecting a straight refusal, he calmly asked me instead what I was planning to take with it. I had to explain as quickly as I could, concerned that the fickle feline might decide to change her location of repose. Mindful of the urgency, my dad felt it was still important to take a moment for a quick lesson in how to use the Agilux agifold, loaded with a 2 1/4" square roll film.

As he set the basics, he gave me piece of advice which was incomprehensible to me then but has got me out of trouble on more than one occasion since.
"If you don't know what F stop is going to be right, set it on F8 as a good measure"
With the camera opened up, wound on and set at F8, all I needed to do was calculate focus, point and then press the shutter.

On my return to the location, I was relieved to find said cat still doing what they like doing best. So after judging the focus (no auto-focus here) I positioned Judy in the viewfinder, held the camera as still as I could and squeezed the shutter button. In a moment of recklessness, I dared to wind on the film for just one more picture, and that, as they say, was that.

As was the norm back then, it was some months before the results of my photographic initiation were revealed. It was as it was; a cat on a hedge. But no one had warned me about parallax. I had thought that Judy would be beautifully positioned in the middle of the frame, instead, she was down and left a bit. (Actually, a nice bit of rule of thirds!) This was lesson number two, don't trust what you see in the viewfinder unless it is a TTL. (TTL came much, much later for me though) F8 had done what it needed- allowed a reasonable focus on the subject and thrown the background out of focus a little. Here was my first photograph.

So, I began with a cute domestic cat, and never in my wildest dreams then, would I have expected myself to be looking down the lens at some amazing big cats in their natural surroundings, some thirty-five years later.

I feel exceedingly privileged.