Tete-a-Tete

Natural History, April, 2001 by Anup Shah, Manoj Shah

Can one animal tell another how it feels? Eloquently.

FRIENDSHIP In Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve, a group of elephants makes its way down the plain to the Mara River during the dry season. Two adults detach themselves from the line and stand close together, feeling each other's foreheads with their trunks. Then, almost imperceptibly, one leans its massive bulk toward its companion. The friend fans its ears in response. After a minute or so, they move on, side by side, completely in step.

AVIAN AMOUR It is early morning on Paradise Plain in the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Atop a tall acacia tree, two saddle-billed storks begin a courtship ritual. The male spreads his wings and raises one leg. They touch beaks, and the female attempts to clasp the male's beak in hers. Spreading their wings while clasping beaks, they slowly circle each other again and again. Finally the male lands gently on the female's back. Crouching, with wings outstretched, the huge birds mate, then fly away together to a nearby glade.

RIVALRY At the Musiara swamp in the Maasai Mara, a mated pair of warthogs feed side by side. A solitary male forages nearby. Eventually the female leaves her mate to drink from a small pool of water. The lone boar follows her, but before he reaches the pool, the other male calmly trots over. The two size each other up, then butt heads in what seems like a highly formalized ritual rather than an angry battle. After a few knocks, the intruder turns and runs. A short distance away, he resumes feeding. There are no injuries and no spilled blood, but the female's consort is clearly the winner.

DANCE OF DOMINANCE A small group of greater flamingoes stands in the shallows of Kenya's alkaline Lake Borgoria, in the Great Rift Valley. Straining the silt by holding their beaks upside down in the water, they feed on cyanobacteria. Suddenly one individual, its back feathers erect as porcupine quills, approaches a larger one to challenge its feeding spot. They go head-to-head in a flamingo flamenco, necks writhing in graceful curves. When the larger bird claims victory by decisively elevating its head above the challenger's, the smaller one concedes and returns to mining its own claim in the mud.

When the brothers Anup and Manoj Shah ("Tete-a-Tete" page 60) were children in Kenya, one of their favorite activities was visiting Nairobi National Park, where they spent long days watching lions, elephants, zebras, and other animals. They were educated in England, but their attachment to Africa and its animals never lessened; as adults, they returned to Kenya and became self-taught wildlife photographers, specializing in large mammals. The Shahs have also photographed in India and the rainforests of Indonesia. In the nine years since deciding to work as a team, they have taken four or five field trips a year. In the field, Anup (left, with Manoj) may shoot from a distance, using a long lens, while Manoj goes in for close-ups. Both brothers have received awards in the BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest and the Nature's Best and Cemex International Photography competition.