Piotr Naskrecki's Image

Piotr Naskrecki (Poland/USA) illustrates the cyclical nature of life on the African savannah.

Piotr had tried for many years to use his drone to witness the drama of the ending of a dry season in Gorongosa. Flying his drone over the vast floodplain, he hoped to find a pond that was being used by animals to get water and had a population of trapped fish.

Here, he stumbled upon a waterbuck weakened by starvation, that had died after becoming stuck in the mud. While African sharptooth catfish waited for the rains to come, some scavenged meat from its carcass.

Sharptooth catfish are omnivorous and can survive for several days out of the water thanks to an air-breathing organ in their gills. If they do eventually perish while waiting for the rains to return, they provide food for other species. Scavenging insects help with the recycling and in turn are eaten by birds, reptiles and amphibians.