The Matriarch

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Story Behind the Photograph: The Matriarch

On the vast salt plains of Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, a matriarch, with her herd of elephants, is about to enter the swamps. This vast land, called “Empusel” for salty, dusty place in the language of the Maasais, Maa, sprawls at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro on the border of Kenya and Tanzania and is traditionally grazing grounds for the herds of Maasai cattle. They have, for centuries, shared this landscape with massive herds of elephants, prides of lions, cheetahs, leopards, and other wild animals.

Amboseli is home to some of the most charismatic African bush elephants, Loxodonta africana. With several researchers frequenting the park and making it their home, there is also a vast body of knowledge about the several families of elephants. One such family is the EA family, to which this lovely matriarch — Eloise — belongs. Born in 1964, she assumed matriarchal duties in 2006 and birthed several times.

On this day, she was covered in red earth and, with her son in tow, crossed the path in front of me before stepping into the marshlands of Amboseli. Just before she passed, she stopped and looked straight at me and held my gaze for several minutes. She was perfectly still and at ease, watching and listening, as her son suckled at her breast. After a few minutes, she moved on and into the water — but only after the whole herd had crossed safely.

I heard later that a severe drought in 2017 claimed this beautiful, able matriarch of the EA family. The news broke my heart. The changes in the climate, affecting the timing and volume of rain that falls on this fragile region, is taking a heavy toll. The wildlife and pastoralists, both depend upon rainwater for sustenance, and bear the brunt of this environmental degradation.

About Untamed Photographer

Untamed Photographer is an online art gallery that brings together wildlife photography and stories from a range of international environmental artists, both emerging and established.

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The Nature Trust of the Americas (NTOTA) was founded with the mission to give back. While building awareness for NTOTA’s causes, the founders met talented nature photographers who are passionate not only about photography, but also about saving the planet. Their life’s work and stories are inspiring, and their art, passion and stories deserve to be shared on a platform that benefits the environmental causes they are dedicated to.

Just as the photographers preserve the beauty of the planet in their art, Untamed Photographer is dedicated to preserving the planet for the future. All profits from photographs go to Untamed Photographer's two pillars: the artists and causes that protect the environment, ecosystems, and wildlife.

About the Photographer: Arati Kumar-Rao

Arati Kumar-Rao is a National Geographic Explorer, an independent environmental photographer, writer, and artist documenting the slow violence of ecological degradation. She communicates through photos, long-form narratives, and art.

Arati crisscrosses the South Asian subcontinent following a single story, across seasons, sometimes over years, in order to chronicle South Asia’s changing landscapes and climate, and its effect on livelihoods and biodiversity.

Arati is currently on a National Geographic Explorer grant to document forced human migration and is working on her first book.

Arati’s work has appeared in The National Geographic Magazine, The Hindu, #Dysturb, The Guardian, BBC Outside Source, Hindustan Times, Mint, and other outlets. She contributes to @EverydayClimateChange and @EverydayExtinction on Instagram and has been exhibited in India and internationally.

When not in the field, she calls Bangalore home where she raises three rescued cats.