Face-to-face with Jessica

At Jessica the Hippo near Hoedspruit, visitors have the rare opportunity to meet one of Africa’s most powerful animals at remarkably close range—and even touch and hand-feed her under the supervision of her caretakers.

During my visit, a young hippo could also be seen at the sanctuary. National Geographic had secured exclusive access to photograph the calf, which significantly limited the opportunities available to other photographers. Even so, I managed to capture this striking close-up of Jessica with her enormous mouth wide open, revealing the extraordinary details of an animal rarely observed from such a short distance.