Photo spotlight: The Impala of Kafue National Park

Sometimes, field work can simply take your breath away.

Photo courtesy of Carolyn Sanguinetti.

A vigilant herd of impala early in the morning in Kafue National Park, Zambia. This herd was photographed by one of the Zambian Carnivore Programme’s long time field ecologists, Carolyn Sanguinetti, while conducting ground-based distance sampling surveys used to estimate species’ density and distribution throughout the park. This photo highlights an open miombo woodland with a tall grass understory in the early dry season.

Photo credit: Carolyn Sanguinetti.

A lone puku ram on the southern fringe of the Busanga flood plain in Kafue National Park. Puku are still relatively abundant in parts of the Busanga flood plain, though their current range is limited and continent-wide population declines are cause for concern.

Journal article: Milan A Vinks. “Testing the effects of anthropogenic pressures on a diverse African herbivore community.” Ecosphere, DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3067