A couple in South Africa have shared extraordinary footage of a rich array of wildlife wandering through their backyard.
Deon Geldenhuys and Kim Smith, who moved to a wildlife estate near Kruger National Park a year ago, recorded the video on security cameras set up around their home.
Among the most remarkable sightings was an African elephant standing in their driveway and a lioness walking past Deon's study in the middle of the day.
“I had just got up to go to the carport when I noticed a lioness walking down my driveway,” says Deon.
“She had just gone past, so was slightly facing away from me. I immediately went to my Ring camera [a type of security camera] and could see she had been standing right outside the study.”
While the couple say they are generally delighted to see such charismatic wildlife in their backyard, Deon points out that they do have a bit of a destructive side. "Elephants will eat anything during winter, when food resources are very scarce, and will come very close to the house and eat our plants. They’ll eat the whole aloe plant or whatever bush you've got growing.”
Elephants and lions weren't the only animals caught on camera. The couple also spotted a giraffe reaching for a treetop, a civet enjoying a tasty snack and a porcupine displaying its quills. They even recorded a leopard.
Deon and Kim shared their remarkable footage with the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF).
"If you saw an elephant walking up your driveway in the UK, it may well come as a shock," says Tanya Smith, Senior Advisor for Africa at WWF-UK, "but on a specialist nature reserve in South Africa, it’s not all that uncommon.
"Elephants are incredibly intelligent, social and resourceful, but as human communities grow, people and wildlife find themselves living in closer proximity, often sharing scarcer resources.
"While captivating, this footage is also an important reminder of our responsibility to protect the natural world, to preserve habitats, and to find ways to live in harmony with the wildlife that share this planet with us."
Main image: Lioness in backyard in South Africa/Ring UK & Ireland
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