Wildlife — Asti Bagger

AFRICA

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

African elephant bull

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

A lioness returning to her cubs after avoiding an altercation with a mother elephant

Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park, Zanzibar

Zanzibar red colobus monkey resting

Serengeti National Park

Male impala rutting

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Plains zebra fighting

Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

A lioness defending her wildebeest carcass from hungry spotted hyenas and golden jackals

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

A Maasai giraffe and a baobab tree

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

African elephant feeding

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

Impala on alert

Serengeti National Park

A secretary bird roams the plains (with its companion) looking for its next meal

Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania

African elephant details

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

Vervet monkey surveying a picnic area for something to steal

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

A lilac-breasted roller on a perch

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

A moment of peace for these plains zebra

In the summer of 2017, I had the incredible opportunity to study Wildlife Management and Conservation in northeast Tanzania as part of my undergraduate career. This collection of photographs was taken while collecting data in the field and observing the behavioural and social ecology of the abundance of life in the Tarangire-Manyara Ecosystem.

Additionally, in 2014 I volunteered at Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre in Hoedspruit, South Africa. The centre rehabilitates many animals brought in as a result of human-wildlife conflict and re-releases them whenever possible. A few of these images are from my time there. This opportunity to observe native species up close and to witness conservation issues and management firsthand in South Africa was an invaluable experience.

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

An African elephant cow nursing her calf after fending off a very large bull elephant

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

Common dwarf mongooses surveying the area beyond their burrow

Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park, Zanzibar

A blue monkey and her infant resting

Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, SA

A young male cheetah (captive)

Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania

A curious baboon infant

Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania

A mother, sister or aunt baboon grooming a very young infant

EUROPE

Harefield Place Nature Reserve, UK

Mute swan male defends territory against Canada geese and goslings

Harefield Place Nature Reserve, UK

Greylag geese with goslings

Buckinghamshire, UK

Buff-tailed bumblebee resting

Buckinghamshire, UK

Male and female mallard

Buckinghamshire, UK

Honey bee pollinating

Black Park, UK

Male and female mandarin ducks preening on a tree

Over time I’ve slowly discovered how much magnificent wildlife resides in my own garden and surrounding area in southern Buckinghamshire. I’m constantly learning and through getting to know our native and migratory species, I’ve realised that England can be just as wild as the Serengeti.

NORTH AMERICA

Yellowstone National Park, USA

American bison herd grazing in the morning mist

Zoo Atlanta, USA

A male bald eagle

Zoo Atlanta, USA

A male bald eagle

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA

Black bear mother awaiting her cub

Yellowstone National Park, USA

Three clumsy black bear cubs practice their tree-climbing skills while their mother grazes below

Tybee Island, USA

A male boat-tailed grackle

Sapelo Island, USA

A ghost crab out of its burrow to look for prey

Sapelo Island, USA

A willet searching for prey

Tybee Island, USA

Laughing gull

Sapelo Island, USA

A turkey vulture feeds on a bottlenose dolphin carcass

San Salvador Island, the Bahamas

A sunbathing San Salvador rock iguana (critically endangered)

North America is home to some of the most staggeringly beautiful wild places in the world. While I was attending university in the United States I made sure to see at least some of it. While only a small amount of the total land mass in the United States is protected, there are incredible pockets of diversity. There is still so much to see and I look forward to when I can explore more of this vast continent.

SOUTH AMERICA

Amazon Rainforest, Peru

A reticulated clown tree frog (Dendropsophus reticulatus)

Amazon Rainforest, Peru

Triangle clown tree treefrog (Dendropsophus triangulum)

Amazon Rainforest, Peru

A three-toed sloth resting

Amazon Rainforest, Peru

A blue-and-gold macaw on a perch

Amazon Rainforest, Peru

A very well camouflaged katydid at night

Amazon Rainforest, Peru

A rainbow boa’s iridescent scales in the sunlight

In 2017 I embarked on a field course to the Peruvian Amazon with my Tropical Ecology class. Exploring both the Amazon River and the Napo river, and trails with some of the highest biodiversity ever recorded, was something I dreamed of as a child who grew up in and around London. Witnessing how well adapted these species were to their ever-changing and rich environment was spectacular. This hub of biodiversity is extraordinarily vibrant and I truly hope I can return one day (and see how many of the 93 bird species I remember from my research project!).