Have you ever wondered how technology can be used in the wild, especially when it comes to up-close encounters with wild animals? Well, a guide in Mala Mala considered using a GoPro to get face to face with some of the animal kingdom’s favorite and most dangerous animals!
32-year-old nature guide, Roan Ravenhill, decided to take interacting with animals to an entirely new level when he started filming close-ups of animals on his GoPro while on safari. LatestSightings.com caught up with him to find out exactly how and why he decided to use a GoPro:
“I have always been curious about how animals would react to a GoPro on the ground. I’ve wondered what the interactions would be like from a much lower angle and if the animals would actually notice the GoPro. I’ve taken a few videos featuring different wild animals and it seemed that every encounter was different, to be able to witness their different behaviour from up close was spectacular!”
“As a guide in nature, you always try and predict the movement of the animal so you can position yourself for the right shot, and the fact that animals like using roads to travel on sometimes just makes it much easier. I enjoy leopards, wild dogs and elephants the most, they are more curious and this makes for better interaction with the GoPro.”
“I have been lucky enough to not lose a GoPro, yet. I did, however, have an elephant stand on one of my GoPros, but luckily the ground was soft enough to cushion it and so only the housing of the camera was damaged.”
“Sometimes, I set down a GoPro while I’m on Safari Drives with clients and I usually ask them if it’s okay before going ahead. If they are happy, I then share the footage taken with them afterward. I know some people will think that setting down a GoPro in wild territory is invasive to the animal and so on, but, I find that a GoPro is small and much less invasive than a big, loud, filming vehicle.”
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“I’ve captured interactions with a few major predators like leopards, lions, lionesses with cubs and wild dogs, I’ve also had an encounter with elephants and what I found fascinating is that most of the elephants noticed the GoPro – they went up to it and inspected it, and even though they rushed passed it, none of them stepped on it. Not even once! I’m excited to get to interact by the method of the GoPro with so many more of nature’s finest in the future.”
