I'm very honored to announce that 2 of my portfolios were awarded on the 2019 Travel Photographer of the Year awards.
My Pumas were Highly Commended in the Endangered Planet category and my Bears photo received a special mention in the same category.
Over 20,000 images were submitted to the contest this year and I'm very proud to have my name up there with a short list of very gifted photographers.
Congratulations to all the winners!
To the winners gallery: https://www.tpoty.com/winners/
"Rupestre", a beautiful wild Puma and incredible mother to 4 kittens.
The Puma of Patagonia, once almost hunted to extinction, has made a phenomenal comeback in the last decades thanks to safeguarding measures.
The story behind the place and how it became a very unique place to view Pumas in the wild began as a tragic tale told by local guide
Dania Goic from Estancia Laguna Amarga.
Dania’s grandfather established a Estancia (farm) adjacent the eastern entrance to the Torres Dell Paine National Park in 1976.
Local ranches at the time were primarily sheep ranchers earning their living by selling wool and Christmas lambs.
Most sheep ranchers despised Pumas because they preyed on the Sheep and often killed Pumas illegally.
In 2005, a human-made fire swept the area, and burned half of Estancia Laguna Amarga, creating additional difficulties for the family.
Soon after the fires, wildlife began to recolonise the ranch and because the sheep herds had been so reduced, the Goic family made no attempts to drive them back into the Park.
In the coming years the family started to try coexisting peacefully with Pumas in a part of the world where conflict with sheep is still rampant, and pumas are frequently illegally killed in retaliation.
They still raise sheep as well, but within a more holistic and sustainable framework, using livestock guarding dogs to protect their small flock from pumas.
The estancia became a refuge for wildlife, the only place on the planet where it is possible not only to locate wild Pumas on an almost daily basis but also to safely observe them from a close distance on foot, proving these beautiful cats do not see human as a food source when not pushed for a impossible reality of survival following our invasion of their natural habitat and elimination of their natural food sources.
An example of conservation and coexistence with a wild cat that is persecuted and misunderstood in other parts of the Americas.
If managed poorly, the backlash for pumas, local people and local economies could be drastic. But one cannot deny the incredible potential that Puma tourism holds for challenging how we live with pumas everywhere.
"Patagonian future".
All 4 young Puma kittens of Rupestre, estimated to be about 4 months old.
mothers give birth in a cave or alcove to a litter of between one and six cubs–typically two.
Born blind, cubs are completely dependent on their mother at first, and begin to be weaned at around three months of age.
As they grow, they begin to go out on forays with their mother, first visiting kill sites.
Kitten survival rates are just over one per litter.
These beautiful wild cats where completely calm in my presence, accepted me into their world and allowed me to capture some unique moments like this image of them sunbathing under the early morning sun.
"Hug to mom"
A 4 months old Puma kitten gives a loving hug to his mom Rupestre.
Pumas rely mainly on vision, smell, and hearing. They use low-pitched hisses, growls, purrs, yowls, and screams in different circumstances. Loud, chirping whistles by young serves to call the mother.
Touch is important in social bonding between mother and young.
"Lessons in behavior"
Rupestre looking for prey from a high advantage position while her playful cubs learning by imitation .
The kittens nurse for three months, steadily growing in size as they incorporate meat into their diet.
By 8 months old the cubs are about 45 pounds and are learning to hunt under the guidance of their mother, who leads them to kill sites and teaches them to catch small prey.
After two years, juveniles leave their mothers to establish their own home ranges–male juveniles typically depart before females.
"Cotton candies".
After fertilisation in early summer, the small, unremarkable brown and green flowers develop distinctive white bristle-like seed-heads that resemble tufts of cotton.
Peak flowering lasts only two weeks a year and varies from year to year depending on the weather.
After a long wait my efforts bore fruit and I was privileged to witness this beautiful family of mother and triplet wild Eurasian Brown Bears stepping out of the forest and playing in this beautiful settings.
Cubs are born in the den in January and February, a litter is usually two to three cubs and the female bear raises them alone.
During this phase a female bear is extremely aggressive and will occasionally attack male bears if they come too close to the cubs.
The cubs stay one and half to two years with their mother.
Proud to have my Pumas and Bear images together with the winning images from the 2019 Travel Photographer of the Year awards are displayed in a spectacular, free-to-view outdoor exhibition in magnificent new London venue for TPOTY – Coal Drops Yard, near King’s Cross and St Pancras stations.
