Stereotypically the animal usually associated with a love of mud is pigs but as these pictures show, elephants are just as content rolling around in the dirt.
With its head raised to the sky and its young nearby, belly-down in the muck, these magnificent creatures appear to be completely unaware they are the subject of an intrepid photographer’s lens.
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood: Elephants and their young enjoy a mucky mud bath
Quarrel: These two fearsome lionesses eyeball each other in preparation to strike
Vivid: A greater flamingo in Africa shows off the colourful hue of its feathers
And they are not the only ones captured at their most natural. These two lionesses are more focused on out-snarling their opponents than posing for the camera.
Taken in Botswana, the nose-to-nose pair look ready to strike at any moment - not usually a situation us mere mortals would usually want to be in close proximity to.
However, these shots are taken from a new National Geographic book, Image Collection, which showcases some of the most amazing photographs of creatures from all over the world at their most natural - something photographers for the publication strive to capture.
Stunning: Wildebeests charge across the savanna as dusk falls
Magnificent: A walrus stands unaffected as waves and ice crash around his formidable frame
Action shot: A lemur leaps through the sky in Madagascar from one tree to the next
It contains stunning images of wildebeests thundering across the savanna at twilight, and a walrus rising out of the sea in Canada, showing off his tusks as the waves and ice crash around him.
A mother polar bear perches on a small island of ice in the Arctic Ocean, comforting her young as it snuggles into her magnolia fur.
Another picture show a hippo ambling through a river in Kenya. Dragging his heavy limbs through the water, he glances up to the water’s surface as the fish keep him company.
Image Collection by National Geographic is out now.
A Siberian tiger and her cubs plough through the snow in Russia
Protective: A polar bear shields her young perched on an ice island in the Arctic Ocean
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1219656/The-jungle-book-Amazing-pictures-elephants-rolling-mud-ferocious-lionesses-hippos-prowl.html#ixzz0TozAVoVo
Amplify your take on things. Join Pierro Marie on Amplify
