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2005: Behaviour: Mammals - Specially Commended

Elliott Neep Enlarge image Tiger play

Elliott Neep (United Kingdom)

Tiger play

The setting is Bandhavgarh National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India. The twins launched the day's entertainment with a bout of boxing, rearing up on their hind legs and swiping at each other. Elliott watched in the morning from the back of an elephant. 'The cubs were 18 months old, nearly adult, and it got quite rough at times,' he recalls. In the afternoon came cormorant-teasing. One minute, it was peace and quiet at the water hole, the next, cacophony. The adolescents crashed out of the long grass and into the shallows, sending the birds squawking. They then used up their leftover energy on tiger-tag. 'They chased each other up and down the bank until the first cub dodged and leapt straight into the water, with its playmate in hot pursuit.'

Canon EOS 10D with Sigma 500mm lens; 1/800 sec at f5.6; 200 ISO; Manfrotto 055PROB tripod with 329RC4 head.

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