Zimbabwe Snaps up Wildlife Awards. (13 September, 1996)

The Zimbabwean connection scored a double at the annual Agfa Wildlife and Environmental Photography Awards. At the annual awards ceremony, held in Midrand, Zimbabwe wildlife guide Nick Greaves' slide of a crocodile kill on the fringes of the Hwange Game Reserve won him the Photographer of the Year award and Cape Town schoolboy Fanie Kloppers' entry of 'Sunset at Mana Pools", also in Zimbabwe, won him the Young Photographer of the Year title.

Fanie (18), a pupil at the Groote Schuur High School, received R2 000, film and a floating trophy.

Nick Greaves' 'Crocodile Attack' of a crocodile taking a male vervet monkey won him R15 000, film and a floating trophy. Mr Greaves, wildlife guide of Victoria Falls, said he got to know of two crocodiles living in seasonal pools while working at Wankie.

'It's unusual for crocodiles to catch monkeys, but the pool was fairly deep and covered with a thick layer of algae which gave the crocodiles protection. The monkey was caught by the crocodile when it came to drink at the pool with baboons.'

Author, palaeo-anthropologist, environmentalist and politician Dr Richard Leakey was the first recipient of the Agfa Environmental Award, presented for his contributions over many years to wildlife and conservation.

The Top 50 photographs, including the prize-winning photographs, will go on display in various shopping centres starting in Johannesburg, followed by Pretoria, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and the Free State. Staff Reporter. Courtesy of the Pretoria News.