African Wild Dogs Hunting

African wild dogs, also known as painted wolves (Lycaon pictus), are amongst the less well-known and photographed large African carnivores. Endangered and hard to see across most of their range, the best place to view them is Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park. This remote bushland has minimal tracks and few visitor pressures. We followed a pack for two hours watching their remarkable hunting prowess. In a straight race, impala will outrun them but dogs tip the odds decisively in their favour by working co-operatively to corner their prey. In heavily overcast conditions, a careful balance of shutter speed (1/2,000 second) and aperture (f/6.3) was needed to get a sharp picture of three dogs running at speed. I relied on animal detection autofocus mode to keep them in focus.