Jabruson's Image

Jabruson was on his way to northern Mozambique to cover the poaching of elephants when, passing through a village, he saw a group of children with a tethered yellow baboon.

It had been caught when its troop raided local crops, probably forced to by loss of habitat. ‘Few animals show such human expressions,’ says Jabruson, ‘and this youngster’s face spoke volumes.’ Then things got tricky when men appeared demanding that he bought it. The best he could do was take a picture ‘to highlight yet another human-wildlife conflict issue so common in Central Africa’. He never knew the youngster’s fate. Without access to the appropriate wildlife authorities, he had no alternative but to leave it – another sad example of humans and wild animals clashing over dwindling resources.