MANE THE EVENT

World Wildlife Day, which took place yesterday (Friday 3 March), celebrates animals and plants and the contribution they make to our lives. GREG DU TOIT has spent two decades capturing the animal kingdom on camera. He recalls some of the close encounters he has had with animals in the African bush, talks about how he has prayed his way out of hazardous situations and explains how he experiences God through nature

Interview by Emily Bright

‘WHEN I got closer to the forest verge, I heard a twig snap. I looked into the foliage, and out of this gloomy interior, a buffalo bull was walking towards me,’ remembers South African wildlife photographer Greg du Toit of the time when he was out birdwatching on a game reserve.

‘The forest was so thick that it was an impenetrable wall to the buffalo. Inadvertently I’d cornered him, and he charged at me. I turned to run, tripped and fell, and I got up to run again. I tripped for the second time, and then I realised that there was no time to get up and try to escape. I covered my head, my binoculars snapped in half.

‘The buffalo ran past me, and then turned and went back into the forest. Because I’d tripped and fallen flat, he saw that any perceived danger had disappeared.

‘Here in Africa, I’d say 9 out of 10 dangerous wildlife encounters are with buffalo bulls, because when they get old, they become cantankerous and they lose fear.’ home, when this bull charged,’ he says. ‘Normally you stand your ground. The golden rule out in Africa is never run. But I looked at the young bull, and he came running straight towards me.

Having worked as a safari guide and camp manager for years, Greg is no stranger to close calls with African animals. He has also spent two decades photographing animals in the African bush, and in 2013 won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, run by the Natural History Museum in London, with his photograph of elephants at a watering hole in Botswana.

Free-ranging lions symbolise the ultimate wilderness

‘I looked at the house, and I figured that I’d make it back in time. I came screeching round the corner with this elephant hot on my heels. My wife was sitting on the veranda, reading, and I dived and slipped through the doorway, and the elephant locked its legs and my poor wife got showered in dust. We laugh about it now.’

Over the years, Greg has had his fair share of close encounters with elephant bulls, including one in Ruaha National Park in Tanzania.

‘I was on a clearing in front of my

Many of his experiences of living and working out in the bush are detailed in his memoir, Wilderness Dreaming. His love for the African savannah, which sounds like his natural habitat, goes right back to his childhood in Pretoria.

‘From when I was young and going on family holidays to the Kruger National Park, I developed a love for nature and the bush,’ he tells me. ‘When I finished high school at the age of 18, I left home and worked in a camp for lodging. But my goal was to be as close to nature as possible.’

After working for a couple of safari camp managers as their handyman and assistant, he was invited to film wildlife for a virtual safari website, during which time he fostered his love of photography. He also took on managerial positions at safari camps in Botswana and Kenya.

Throughout his career, he has had some strange experiences with the human species too. In his book, he writes about the time that a tourist leapt out of a safari truck to rescue her son’s jumper from a herd of elephants and recalls a Marie Claire photoshoot held in a remote safari lodge.

‘When you choose a career in wildlife – whether that’s working as a safari guide, a safari camp manager or a wildlife photographer – you are always going to have to deal with people,’ he says, ‘and when I wrote my book, I included all the funny people stories, because human beings are bizarre.’

While Greg ran safari lodges, his real love – photography – blossomed. There was one particularly elusive subject that he was keen to capture.

‘Free-ranging lions live outside of a park or a game reserve, on community land. For me, they symbolise the ultimate

Turn to page 10 f

From page 9 wilderness, because you only get these lions in small pockets across the continent. To get a photograph of one was something that I knew I would cherish for the rest of my life.’

Taking the prized photograph would be easier said than done.

‘These lions have learnt to avoid human beings at all costs,’ he says. ‘They’re strictly nocturnal – during the daytime they’re like ghosts – but I was still shooting on film and needed to photograph them in the daylight.’

Greg drove a safari truck to the floor of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, but the lions were nowhere to be seen. He then discovered lion tracks by a waterhole, decided to ditch his vehicle and dug a hole next to the waterhole, concealing his spot by putting a cover over it. But the lions never emerged.

One stifling day, about a year after Greg had first built his photography hide, he jumped in the waterhole to cool off. Lying on his back in the water, he was amazed to see that a waterbuck bull walked into the waterhole and started drinking right in front of him.

‘When I was submerged in the water, the animals couldn’t smell me, and they also didn’t see me,’ he explains. ‘So I decided that I’d sit in the water and wait for the lion to come and drink.’

Greg then spent six hours each day at the waterhole.

‘About three months later,’ he continues, ‘these lions came and drank right on the edge of the water. I was able to photograph two lionesses and then eventually the two lionesses with their seven cubs, all drinking in a row with me sitting in the water in front of them. The lions were literally one leap away, and I felt my life was in danger.’

As a Christian, Greg decided to pray for his safety. ‘Prayer helps greatly in those sorts of scenarios, because when life’s circumstances become beyond you, it’s wonderful to be able to turn to God and just ask him for help,’ he says. ‘And every time I’ve been delivered. I’m still here.’

While Greg was delighted to capture the photo, a growing sense of dread crept over him when the sky darkened and the lions still hadn’t left the waterhole.

‘I was alone. There was no vehicle and there was no radio for me to call for help. With these two lionesses lying on the edge of the waterhole, I decided that I’d better get out of there before it was pitch-dark, because I wouldn’t be able to see a thing and they can see perfectly well at night.

‘So I slowly started inching my way out of the waterhole, because every time I moved, I attracted their attention. I would wait for them to just look away and then I’d move again. But as I got to the edge of the waterhole, the water got shallower, and more and more of my body was becoming exposed.

‘These two lionesses were becoming more and more interested in exactly what type of creature I was. Eventually I put enough distance between me and the two lionesses, and I stood up. And when I stood up, they leapt to their feet and they got the fright of their life. They were surprised that the waterhole had spawned a human being. It was pretty tense.’ creative, which is something the Creator put inside of me. I’m also able to put my own spin on his work through my camera settings and how I use the light.’

Greg escaped and ran home.

Because of travel commitments, Greg is unable to participate regularly in a church community. But he says, that in a ‘very real way’, nature has become his church.

I felt my life was in danger

It’s sometimes said that people suffer for their art. That was certainly true for Greg, whose commitment came at a high cost.

‘When I was sitting in the water, the aquatic parasites thought I was manna dropped from heaven. I ended up having a worm that was living inside my foot, fly maggots hatching out of my back and bilharzia, a type of infection you get from parasitic water snails. I also had malaria a couple of times during the project.

‘As it turns out, human beings should not sit in a stagnant pool of water for months on end.’

But for Greg, it was a special project, and worth it. Kenya now has fewer than 2,000 lions.

Greg says that his wildlife photography and his Christian faith go hand in hand.

‘Photography is a way for me to be

‘It’s something that helps my faith,’ he says. ‘It’s like a pillar for me. There’s a verse, Romans 1:20, that I always think about, which speaks about how God has made his eternal power, his divine nature and his invisible qualities known through what he has created.

‘And these show up in many ways and forms, not just in the big, beautiful, charismatic animals, but also in the smaller things, like the little wildflower.

That’s my happy place. It’s something I take delight in.’

THE War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances, for publication. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.

jBecoming a Christian

There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God

Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Amen