Kings Of The Fence
While we were walking through the Fury Wildlife Reserve in Jayaque, El Salvador, my girlfriend and I were having an interesting discussion. We were arguing that, while it was cruel, caging some of the most dangerous specimens and showing them to people would help raise awareness of their existence and help conservation efforts. That's when I began to realize: with everyone gathered around the cages and barriers competing for a simple look of these beasts, it feels like each one is a king behind his fence.
The only white Bengal tiger in Central America sits high on a platform located away from the fence to avoid biting curious hands. Using my 70-200 mm lens, I approached and realized that the tiger was still looking to his right as if he was expecting something. At first I thought I was just curious about the visitors who came to see. Then, someone pointed and everything made sense... he was waiting to be fed. He had been drooling all the time and with his eyes fixed on the trail, he was checking if the zookeeper was coming. It's strange how these animals get so used to their closed life that they can know when it's time to feed. A great contrast to those in nature who simply go out and hunt whenever they are hungry.
Hesitating to approach, the male lion stared at the crowd of people. With everyone competing for his attention, he was discouraged by the crowd. Again I had to zoom using a 200 mm lens at first to capture his face, since he didn't want to get off his platform to find us; however, patience has its rewards. As soon as the crowd of people dispersed, the lion came down, curious about the two people who left. I've never been so quick to change the lenses to capture the essence of his eye behind the fence while he was attracted to our colorful clothes (we had dressed in colorful outfits for this specific purpose).
You could think of these peacocks as the scared guy who runs away at first sight from danger, however, this species is somewhat invasive. Walking through the territories of other animals, sitting on top of the cages, these could be found everywhere (except next to the feline sites, obviously). This one, for example, was captured sitting next to the hippo pond.
Unlike her male counterpart, the lioness kept walking in front of the fence as if she were measuring a prey among the people who were looking at her. I had to position myself at an uncomfortably close angle and wait for everyone to leave so I could capture their attention. It was at that moment that she finally saw me standing just looking at her. The moment I felt that his hungry gaze on me was enough to understand the message he was trying to convey "If only this fence wasn't here..."
Fortunately for me, the leopard's cage wasn't as full as the lion's. It was just us and the official photographer of Fureza. I took this opportunity to get to know the leopard a little. Strange as it may seem, when you eliminate all the predator vibe, you understand that these are just large cats. Of course, they could kill you in an instant, but when they are not hunting yet they behave like a normal domestic cat. Playing with butterflies, being curious about plants and purring every time the photographer called him, reminded me a lot of a small cat. In the last frame it may seem that he was upset about all the photos, but in reality he was just trying to get closer to the photographer to hug him.
If the leopard reminded me of the little domestic cat, the tiger did it even more. Playing with his own paws, he continued rolling on the platform. Completely clueless of the people who watched him, he simply continued to relax on his wooden platform. I tried everything: jumping, screaming, waving my arms, anything that could get his attention. Finally, he saw me. Again, I zoomed in 200 mm and shot him looking at me.