Blood bath

While in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, I waited for a herd of elephant to come down to drink at sunset, hoping to catch some of them dustbathing and was rewarded with this unusual pose. Despite the country's political problems, Hwange remains a conservation success story (against the odds) supporting over 50,000 elephants. With a lack of government resources, this is largely down to the efforts of private safari operators and after this year's drought, it remains to be seen how many of the parks herds will survive the next year.