Dudhwa: Indian One Horned Rhino

[Bibhav Behera]

I'm just back from Dudhwa National Park. Was great fun. Had gone there alone :)
Had a total blast. Great fun and sightings (No tigers though)... Loads of images lined up...

Getting there and returning was part of the fun. Trust me, if you dont have a vehicle of your own, it's tough to get there. ;)

A big thanks to Satyabrata Mishra (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/member.php?u=50) for lending me his Canon EF 1.4x II Extender.

In 1984, 4 Rhinos (2M and 2F) were relocated to Dudhwa from Pabitora NP, Assam. 2 of them died soon after and 4 more were again brought from Chitwan National Park. Currently their number stands at 29. In order to protect them and keep them localised, an electrified fencing is made to cover an area of 27sq km for them. The enclosure however also has a variety of other wildlife including a large number of waterbirds and song birds. Tigers often jump the fencing and are found in the meadows inside the enclosure.

This was taken handheld from elephant back around 7:00AM. This is a Full frame image.

Canon EOS 1000D, Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM + Canon EF 1.4x II Extender
SS 1/500
F 7.1
ISO 400

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Bibhav,
I am feeling good as well as bad when I see this Rhino image from Dudhwa. These rhinos have been brought about 27 years back and have been caged since then with turf war raging among them. For further details:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1939
The environment is portrayed well. More depth of field would have been better. It would have been good without the 1.4x converter. Some more contrast will enhance the image. Look forward to more.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice environment photograph. I would have liked some more details in the eye. When the animal is in grass it is better to focus manually to ensure that the head and eye is in focus. Here the focus doesn't seem to be on the eye. You can check the AF point.
Look forward to more from Dudhwa :).

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Beautiful environment portrayed in this image, agree with comments made. I am yet to try the manual focus mode. Were you in a Jeep or on a Elephant back?
Look forward to more from this trip.
tfs

[Bibhav Behera]

Thanks for the comments guys. I was on Elephant back when I shot this. I'm not very comfortable focussing manually yet, so went with the AF. Will try it out in the future. The AF point is on the shoulder pad of the rhino. I guess I though the DOF at 420mm would cover the whole body. Also it is easier to focus on the body than on the eye. Need to build more experience in this regard. :)
Sabyasachi, I agree with you regarding the feelings you just conveyed. In fact just before posting, I was contemplating if these beautiful creatures qualify as living freely in the wild or in captivity, hence raising the whole question of the 27 years in an enclosure being the right way to go.