At Sensor, our team is talented in what they do in providing innovative security solutions but that isn’t all we are talented at. Each individual, although dedicated to their Sensor duties, have other passions that we love to brag about. Zaheer Ali is one of Sensor’s Senior Sales Consultants, and when he is not doing his day-to-day job with us, he is taking families on wildlife safari’s as a Field and Photographic guide, capturing the beauty of nature.
Taking his love for nature and photography to the next level, Zaheer participated in the Kruger Magazine’s photo competition by submitting his photo of the wonderful coming together of a rhino and an oxpecker, captioned, “All you need is a hug!” and won TWO PRIZES! One prize was for being the overall winner of the “Amateur Photo Competition” and the other was for “Most Popular Photo”, where the winner was based on the highest number of votes received, walking away with a three-night stay for two guests at Imbali Safari Lodge and a two-night stay at Hoedspruit Wildlife Estate!
Since he won in both categories, the Kruger Magazine asked him to tell readers a little about how he came about taking the photo to be published in the Kruger Magazine’s issue 15, for autumn 2021. Here is what Zaheer had to say:
“I was hosting a family safari of parents and their two young children. On this particular afternoon, the sightings had been quiet. There had been a call on the radio stating that lions had been sighted, but knowing that lions will not be active in the heat of the day we thought to leave the lions for the last part of the drive.
After a few hours of adventuring, we eventually made our way in the direction of the lions and came across a lone rhino grazing on some tasty grass. I use any opportunity on our child-friendly safaris to make it an educational one so we stopped and gave the children a brief moment to learn about these phenomenal animals, who also form part of the “Big-Five”.
We were at a safe distance which allowed the rhino to move in our direction. We chatted about commensalism – which highlights the relationship between the rhino and oxpecker and it was then that this oxpecker actually caught my eye. Up until then, this sighting didn’t stand out photographically. I watched as this tiny bird sharpened his beak on the horn of the rhino and it was something I had never seen before. As photographers, we are always looking for something different to capture and this was definitely it!
I picked up my camera and waited for the right moment and took the shot as the bird lay on the horn of the rhino. Feeling satisfied we left the rhino to be and moved on to another great sighting where elephants chased two male lions!
