One of my favorite animals within Chobe NP is the Kudu. It’s a beautiful and tall animal with lots of pattern and subtle color changes on the hide… and of course, on the bull kudu, those horns! Kudu are found at Chobe National Park both near waters edge at the Chobe River and also inland. I also know for a fact that kudu like to roam at night time, as they were spotted near my vehicle two different times and areas while shooting night time stars near Kasane on my last trip.
Most often, I have found the kudu a few kilometers from the Chobe River’s edge browsing on bush leaves. There in lies a few of the challenges for the photographer. The bush does not make a particularly attractive background. The often near proximaty of the bush means it is hard to have an adequately short depth of field to naturally blur the background (create a nice bokeh). Another challenge with this photo situation is that the bushes from which the animal grazes causes shadows to be on the kudu. Be patient. The kudu in Chobe do not startle with one’s vehicle, so if you position yourself with favorable light and wait, the animal will eventually move to a better angle for your shot. When you get home, you will be glad you delayed.
The other challenge I have had with my kudu photos has been accurate representation of color. The kudu, as noted earlier, has several shades, from off white, to gray, to reddish brown. There is a natural tendancy to push saturation on kudu shots which leads to printing or displaying an animal that is too red or brown. Make sure the majority of the animal is more gray. I try to take a reference shot in the bush for adjusting in camera white balance, but I also do a final adjustment in my digital darkrooom (Lightroom or Photoshop ).
A Bull Kudu with very muddy horns along the Chobe River - Photo Copyright 2007: P. B. Eleazer, III
The following additional information on the kudu was supplied from http://www.safari-guide.co.uk
Traits:
What must surely be the most elegant of antelope, the Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) is also has the longest horns. It is also the second tallest after the Eland.
The Kudu prefers savanna with fairly dense bush cover and are not often seen on open plains. Kudu are mainly browsers and often spotted eat a variety of leaves during the mid-day and afternoon..
Kudu are light grey in colour with six to ten vertical white stripes along the sides and with a white chevron between the eyes. In the heat of midday or when a predator is near a Kudu will stand motionless and are beautifully camouflaged in thickets, due to their coloration and stripes.
Kudu are very agile and can easily clear obstacles over 2m high and are known for the unhealthy habit of leaping in front of oncoming vehicles. Kudu are also excellent swimmers.
Kudu have numerous predators including lions, leopards, hunting dogs and spotted hyenas hunt kudu, and cheetahs, smaller cats, eagles and pythons prey on the young.
Size: height at shoulder 150 cm; up to 310 kg.
Family Structure:
Female kudu gets an ear cleaning from Ox-pecker birds. Photo Copyright 2007: P. B. Eleazer, III
Kudu live in small herds of females and their young. The normally solitary males occasionally band into small herds and only join the females during the mating season.
The Kudu’s Horns:
Only the males have the very impressie horns that, form large spirals, and an old bull can have up to two complete twists. The horns are seldom used in defense against predators; nor do they seem to impede them in their often wooded habitats as the kudu just tilts the chin up and lays the horns against the back, moving easily through dense bush with ease, this is a common behavioral sight. Because their horns are so impressive, they have long been prized by local people for use as musical instruments, containers and used in symbolic ritual objects. In some cultures the horns are thought to be the dwelling places of powerful spirits, and in others they are a symbol for male potency.