Page 108 - Skd 208-2545-06

ror photograplers, large animal renains are the best kind of "supplenentary equipmenr"
' r -1so ohe i Ldl Ie

d . o d n ' . o L r a m a i n c p r a < . n - n g p h o r o g r . p h e .> w r r r h e p e ' f - o p p o y

ro capture these lovely creatures on film. I set mt trusry 20 m.

wlde frmed, autonatic, infrared canera, triggered by movemenr The Bears
which in this case wiLl mosr tikely be animals closing in on the

deer remains - a! 1 meter fron ny "supplemenlary equipnent". (nowing I Fould only be using

ny aulo(atic carera for just the first niqht, I hoped for whatever it could capLure. Despite

n- ao.ndan. of wrldljf- Huo ' d deng.

to capture anything on fi1n.
But on my third day aL Huai (hakhaeng, I a.tLra11\ spor'ted a dark brown, shorl-eared,

Lonq nailed bear, referred to in Thai as the bear-dog which is tbe snaller one of onLy

tFo kinds of bears existinq in Thailand. This I attributed to pure 1uck, knowlnq fuII treII

tlat there Has very little possibility of spottins bears ar aL1, much less in a tropical

forest during broad daylilrhl. These bears were niqhr predators and sinply lived too deep

.n h. tor"s- for p"sp]. !o le.,L.ery ud de, ,o ,. . k - 1r-

to be able to hunt bears at alL - for their body parls to be used i. Chinese medicine and

how confoundins sLiLl that the already smaLl populalion of bears toas fast de.reasins

because of this practice.

upon returnins home, I developed the film from my automatic rnfrared camera... and ',ras

deLighted to discovel that one of the six frmes did aLso, as I had brietly, capture a gianL,

cuddry bear... Luck was reaLly with ne after aLl, for the forest had opened up to its short

Line visitor in a !,/ay r wilL aLlrays be lhankfuL for. I Story&Photos: sdarn ftunkhddee