East Tsavo National Park, Kenya – 2017

This image captured in the vastness of the raw and untamed East Tsavo National park is certainly relevant because this beautiful big tusker is probably in her final couple of years. That will reduce the number of big tuskers in Kenya and in the world to about 25 – as Kenya is the last country where the gene pool survives.

There was little skill in taking the image – I just wanted to use the highest resolution equipment available – there was so much detail to document. What made the picture was attaining the access – which was achieved with the help of conservationist Richard Moller and his trackers. Finding and getting close to this mammoth is not for those that require immediate gratification. It requires resolve and the appetite for long hours on bad roads.

Her ivory is perfect – an overused word, but on this glorious encounter, it is emphatically the right word. What a stunning mammal she is.