“There’s one animal that ever since I started photographing wildlife I have always desired to photograph. Until now, I’ve never had the opportunity. Can you imagine? For six years going out in nature and I’ve never spotted one. I just hear beautiful stories of this animal and that animal would top my Big 5 list.

It’s the caracal. I’ve never got an opportunity to see it. It’s a beautiful cat, but it’s disappearing. The population, especially around the Masai Mara, is extremely low. I don’t even know there’s any if they still exist in the Mara. I just hear stories of it. That would top my list.

The caracal is a fantastic animal. It is very rare. It’s very difficult to photograph. It’s an extremely beautiful cat. I have a photographer friend who photographed one in the early 2000s and it was a mum, a dad and some cubs. Can you imagine what a sighting that would have been? That’s once-in-a-lifetime and we will probably never see such images again.

The four other animals would be the wild dog. It’s disappearing as well. They used to be a lot of sightings in the Laikipia area in Kenya and a few ones in the Masai Mara, but it’s very rare. I have actually not seen a wild dog in Kenya. The first time I ever saw a wild dog was in Kruger National Park in South Africa. I think it’s one of the best predator in Africa and it’s also a species it needs to be protected.

My number three would be gorillas. They fascinate me. I like their family structure, how they protect each other, and they make beautiful portraits.

The last two would be the lion and the cheetah. The cheetah for reasons of it also being endangered. There are very few left in the world. I think the last report I read was 7,100 cheetahs left in the world. How sad is that? How can we lose the fastest animal on our planet?”

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My Big 5

Caracal
Wild dog
Gorilla
Lion
Cheetah