"Brown hyena patrol, January 2008"

Brown Hyenas are elusive, rare, largely nocturnal predators - a pretty challenging mammal to get photographs of. By attending a project with the Earthwatch Institute specifically aimed at researching these endangered mammals I was able to maximise my chances.

The research involved a number of techniques including the latrine surveys (looking for hyena dung), night call-ins and spot lighting. Particularly exciting was the opportunity to observe a hyena female with young at the den. This was when I got the oportunity to photograph this female setting out on her night time patrol. The sun had gone down about a quarter of an hour before hand and I used a bean bag through the car window to get this shot of her moving through the long grass in very low light conditions.

Canon EOS 5D, 500mm lens, ISO 1000, 1/6sec, f/4.5