Trio of Zebras

Taken in the Kalahari Desert (Botswana), this image was shot from an underground hide adjacent to a water-hole. It was early October and nearing the end of dry-season with the last rains having passed over five months ago. This water source was one of the few remaining in the region and we hoped it would attract animals looking for relief from the heat.

Underground hides are man-made structures and as the name suggests, allows one to "hide" in the structure so animals and birds that come to drink are not aware of what might be in hide. Patience and complete quiet are needed when waiting in a hide and while some animals do notice people in a hide, others do but feel comfortable and will linger at the water-hole,

In this instance, temperatures were soaring into the low 40C's as we tucked ourselves into the hide one afternoon and waited.  After an hour or so, the first few birds arrived and then a black-backed jackal followed by larger animals such as wildebeest, impalas and several zebra. 

By now, a few hours had passed and the water-hole was busy with all sorts of animal and bird life when I noticed three zebra in the mix, each with its head down drinking and, each lined up perfectly.

This turned out to be a very organized image in an overall scene that was very disorganized!

Click here to discover more wildlife photography from Canadian visual artist Christine Lundvall.