Adam Parker, Chirundu (2026)

06/03/2025

~ 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞-𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐞-𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 • The beauty of birdlife goes far beyond their vibrant colours.

In each species is an array of intelligence unimaginable to current scientific methods. The colouration of feathers born from a complex process of transforming the food they eat into carotenoids or specialised melanocytes cells and porphyrins.

Their eyes have developed a higher flicker fusion rate allowing processing of light pulses far quicker than any human will experience.

Their song, often disorganised and random to our ears, slows to a detailed language of each species enabling precise communication in flocks of thousands.

Perhaps most fascinating is their behaviour, their continuous adaption to ever-changing conditions and their otherworldly ability to predict environmental occurrences.

We could spend a lifetime researching a single species and we still would not understand its true intelligence. And for me, this is the humbling awe that nature brings us.

15/02/2025

👁️ Eye contact 👁️ ~ What does it mean to experience connection with a wild animal?

This is the Island female leopard - born February 2013, died February 2025. A leopard that a lot of guides and guests will carry in their hearts for life.

This sighting was one of many… A successful hunt along the Sand River near Rattrays Camp - eventually stolen by the Maxims male and not long after by male lions. It was one of hundreds of days I spent with her. No doubt those who knew her well will celebrate her life in the coming months through stories and images to honour the connection they had with her.

She taught us to keep going, to always move forward. Through the hard times where she lost 3 litters of cubs in as many years. Or the countless battles with hyenas or wild dogs. Her territory along the sand river south of west street put her in one of the most predator rich zones in the Sabi Sands - yet still she persevered.

It’s hard to write about, to process the reality of her area devoid of her powerful presence. In one of my last interactions with her in June 2024, with only us following, she explored a thicket while heavily pregnant. She leaves these cubs behind as her spirit fades into the mist of the Sand River.

I don’t believe we simply watch wildlife, we experience it - intertwined into a non-dualistic being that runs beneath the fabric of life. There is a shared understanding, a purpose and responsibility in each interaction to maintain the equanimity of the natural world. I feel it in their eye-contact, in their body language and when naturally present I feel this balance deeper and more instinctually. Wildlife teaches us to reconnect.

It is this connection that lives on through our interactions with wildlife - growing as our separateness dissolves into equilibrium. Thank you, my friend, I am because you were, RIP.

12/02/2025

Looking back at Kafue National Park -
Africa’s 5th biggest park.

I drove a boat for 8 hours along the Kafue river when working with - the vastness left me in awe. Hippos resting under the waterberry trees that overhang the edge of the river, leopards walk its banks and the calls of wild dogs, hyenas and lions ring out through the misty plains.

We would go on to fly many patrol hours in a 2 seater fixed wing aircraft looking for signs of poaching. This Birds Eye perspective helped me understand the habitat. The river radiates into tributaries, grasslands turn to woodland and wildlife roams freely.

We would see little safari vehicles bounce past a pride of lions in long grass, unnoticed by the guides and guests. You can fit both the Serengeti and Ngorongoro into Kafue National park - it’s expanse something to behold. It boasts 158 mammal (21 of which are antelope), 500 bird species and a treasure trove of unique trees species from the mighty Busanga in the North to the Nzila plains in the south.

When conducting walking safaris, game drives, boat trips or working with film crews I always kept those aerial patrols in mind, trying to merge that perspective into to the guest experience.

Special mention to and for their continued support of the greater Kafue eco-system - long may it reign as one of Africa’s most diverse wildlife areas!

07/08/2024

A wonderful Gymnopilus junonius surrounded by lichen! Get in touch for immersive safaris with Wild Parker Safaris !

12/11/2023

~ 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ~

𝐇𝐢 👋 This is me in my element... We had just boated down a flooded river lined with birds, hippos and crocodiles in search for lions - off the beaten track, racing against an approaching storm and far from civilization. It is a feeling hard to describe that thrusts you into your senses - an awareness and stillness that can only be found when fully present in nature.

My journey as a safari guide started in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. I have since been lucky to learn from conservationists, guides, researchers, mentors, indigenous communities and nature itself.

It is through this whirlpool of skills and knowledge sharing that we grow and gain momentum, changing our course yet staying true to our north star of protecting our natural world.

Every minute I spend connected to these areas enriches me with gratitude. Growing up on the coast in Durban - my life was mostly a big city with small pockets of nature. I had hardly seen wildlife until I became a guide... When did, I was absolutely hooked for life!

I've worked with different projects throughout southern, central and west central-africa. Areas that seemed massive and seperate have shrunk and interwoven as I uncovered the threads between them through travel and experience.

Some of my greatest wildlife moments have been in Congo, Zambia, South Africa, India, Madagascar, Namibia and Mozambique - I cherish these places and can only imagine what else is out there.

I consider myself an amateur everything... Photographer, guide, surfer, writer, conservationist, explorer, storyteller... Continuing to learn while having fun and helping others in the process is a compass that has not led me astray...

If you would like to reach out for any reason please send me a message.
--
Keeping it Real~> Instagram shows the highlights - there are many blurry photos, long days, mistakes, challenges, blood, sweat and tears behind the scenes while being a safari guide, but for me it's all worth it.
--
📸 Lauren Jackson 😁🙏

12/04/2023

Some recent images.

I rarely use facebook but if needed please contcat me via on instagram or direct message.

07/06/2021

This leopardess grooming her cub had just been born when I joined in 2016. Over the following 3 years I would watch her grow up and raise a litter of her own.

There were timeless moments between hours of tracking and observing her, this being just one of those moments.

It is a privilege I hope to protect for everyone to enjoy - the chance to watch our planet's incredible species safe in their natural habitat.
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05/05/2021

🤯 Observable matter makes up only 5% of the universe. The rest is invisable dark energy 68% and dark matter 27% which we have yet to understand. 🌌

The vastness of this silent vacuum allows us to see 13 billion year into the past when using the Hubble 🔭

But it is the interconnectedness that really interests me... Almost all of the hydrogen atoms in your body were formed during the Big Bang. 💥 The calcium in your bones and iron in your blood are material relics of exploding stars. 🌠

So if the world we can see is only 5 % should that be considered 'normal' matter or is the unobservable the real normal ❓

We are, at best, particles of stardust and series' of electron clouds, all bound together by the quantum rules that govern the entire universe - suspended in a immeasurable energy that we can't explain but connects everything. 🧬
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20/02/2021

~ Carnivores ~
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What is important to recognise is that, in order to exist, a small population of carnivores requires a much larger population of prey. For example - a tiger needs to kill 50 medium/large ungulates a year to survive. To sustainably achieve this in a functioning ecosystem that would relate to 10% of the available prey ie. 500 animals to sustain 1 tiger for a year - 5000 for 10 tigers etc... (enough maths). Now consider coexisting carnivores, like this leopardess, within the same ecosystem.

About two thirds of the land on earth is dedicated to sustaining humans. This makes habitat loss and the misuse of land crucial issues to combat if certain wildlife is to survive.

Carnivores decend from a civet-like ancestor that lived over 60 million years ago. Of the 280 carnivores; 8 are critically endangered, 24 are endangered and facing imminent extinction. Positioned at the tops of intricate food pyramids they are not as common as some might think.

Currently there are only 37 described cat species - 7 'big cat' and 30 'small cat' species. The rapid change of their fundamental and realised niches have forced them into bottleneck populations in most areas.

To elevate this pressure will only be possible through practical conservation efforts and conscious sustainability choices of our human population.

How you live, what you consume and where you invest does make a difference.
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31/10/2020

~ Keepers ~
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From the fast disappearing jungles of the Congo to the endless valleys of the Zambezi River in Zambia and the southern herds of the Kruger National Park - I have spent much of my time observing elephants. Seldom are we privileged enough to interact with such highly intelligent species. An intelligence akin to that of the great apes and cetaceans.

An accelerated decline of elephants was realised between 2007 - 2014 over an 18 country census across Eastern and Southern Africa. The population decline of 8% per year equaled approx 144 000 elephants lost in this period out of a total population of 400 000. However, there are pockets of hope for savannah elephants and organisations such as African Parks
fighting for their survival.

Forest Elephants share a much more critical fate. Habitat, pressure of logging and palm oil plantations and poaching make population statistics unreliable. Biologically different to savannah elephants in generational times (31 years to 24 respectively) and median birth intervals (59 months) - one of the longest of all land mammals. This slow increase brings concern and urgent need for protection and tourism development in Central and West Africa. This mission is being realised in projects such as Odzala Discovery Camps and Sangha Lodge

Elephants are the keepers of our forests and savannahs, the keepers of the great pathways across the continent - It would be a tragedy to lose them.
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18/10/2020

~ Contact ~
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There is a defining moment in each interaction between humans and wildlife. It comes spontaneously, levelling the field, and brings pause for decision. In this moment, often punctuated by eye contact, both species call on millions of years of evolution to guide their reactions.

How we behave around the animals that share our planet ultimately determines our status as friend or foe. This leopardess locked eyes with me for a second before completely relaxing and revealing herself - a behavioral product of decades of conservation.

Her decision goes hand in hand with protection over poaching, pause over pressure and empathy over ego.

As guides and conservationists we are trained to observe wildlife ethically, with minimal disturbance, and this should be at the forefront of every interaction.
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Adam Parker

06/03/2025

15/02/2025

12/02/2025

07/08/2024

12/11/2023

12/04/2023

07/06/2021

05/05/2021

20/02/2021

31/10/2020

18/10/2020

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