Sadness

Hi all! As my kids and my focus behind the lens is pretty exclusively wildlife, I haven't had the privilege of participating in this gallery much until the recent changes to include Environmental Photojournalism images. Now you're stuck with us! 

I couldn't decide which of two images to post of this sad circumstance we encountered this fall, so I decided to post this as the main image and a subsequent image below showing this bull's repeated struggle to free himself from the copper wire that had become entangled in his antlers.

I had the privilege of taking all four of my kids up to Jasper National Park this fall to photograph the elk rut. We arrived in the park at twilight, and before we could even reach our campground we spotted this magnificent bull at the edge of the forest. We watched him for a while and resolved to look for him at dawn. At the time, we thought he had some vegetation stuck in his branches, as can often occur during the rut.

When we found him the next day, we were immediately heartbroken to see it wasn't vegetation, but heavy copper wire that he had gotten wrapped in his antlers (and for a while, around his neck). It's always hard not to resort to anthropomorphism in wildlife photography, but we all saw that he simply looked sad. Of course, this could largely be the result of him being a bull in his prime but without a harem of cows to call his own, but the amount of time he spent trying to free himself of the wire made it hard not to connect his countenance to his predicament. Either way, the title reflects what we felt in witnessing this.

We followed him for portions of three days, and he never resolved the situation while we were there. 

National Parks are such incredible sanctuaries for wildlife, but their development and popularity means we often put the animals in harm's way, whether it's from speeding motorists, train tracks, or all the infrastructure and activity that supports the inherent tourism. This was sad for us to see, although we were grateful the bull never appeared to be in peril (it did seem to have distracted him from the rut itself, however, and we never witnessed him challenge a herd bull...something you would expect from a bull of this maturity and caliber).

Thanks for listening to my rant, and of course for any comments, critiques or suggestions on the image(s). Please view the larger version(s) if you have time.

I'd also love to hear which you think is the stronger image (they both tell different parts of the story for me).

---------------------

Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED
ISO 1250
1/200sec @ f/5
-0.66 stop exposure from meter
Mounted on FEISOL CT-3372 Elite tripod with Acratech GV2 ballhead and Wimberley Sidekick
100% full frame (not cropped)