Charging Machine

Charging Machine !!
Photographed in Kaziranga which is one of the best places to see the majestic species known as One-horned Rhino.
There is quite a story behind this shot and which is necessary to tell to avoid passing the wrong message.
One afternoon in Central Zone of Kaziranga when our morning drive was just about to be dry (photographically) as we couldn’t find any animals close by the track that day.
We were about to head back to the gate but decided to check for Hornbill we sighted previous day. But to our bad luck we couldnt sight any. While our gypsy was at halt, suddenly there was roaring like loud noise in the tall grass on our left side at pretty good distance. and Two rhinos came out running. One was chasing the other out. 1st Rhino gave up the chase immediately and now we wre anticipating the 2nd to cross the road infront of us but at the good distance about 80 meters or so where we saw them chasing one another. this other rhino was again disappeared behind the grass as
I was ready with the my 500mm to photograph him crossing at that distance. but suddenly again a loud noise and this Rhino came out at about 50 meters from us directly charging towards us with full speed… 

It took some time for my surprised and scared driver to respond he put the vehicle in the reverse gear and put everything into accelerator .. but by that time this charging machine was hardly at any distance from us… When he was so close and we almost gave up on everything … he decided to show some mercy and put on his breaks … that eye contact before he decide to leave was something which will be remembered. A lot is discussed when we saw such images on internet.
Many of them are made by making the animal charge you by some actions, noise or things like getting down from the vehicle.

But it was necessary to explain the story behind the image. I still discourage making such images by disturbing the animal.
When you are there in their kingdom, treat them like a king … Give respect ,, keep distance.

© Sagar Gosavi. All Rights Reserved.