Giant Komodo dragons have been captured battling it out with each other in a scene that looks like it is straight out of a 1950s adventure film.
The incredible images showing the two large male dragons locked in a fight were captured on the Indonesian island of Rinca by Russian wildlife photographer Andrey Gudkov.
Mr Gudkov had been coming to the island of Rinca for several years hoping to capture the dragons in action.
Usually, fights between male dragons occur during the mating season, which lasts throughout August, but Mr Gudkov captured these impressive pictures in December. ‘Finally, I happened to travel there in December. And it was then that two large males met at the top of the hill.
‘My guide said that there could be a fight, and moments later, the dragons showed us two magnificent rounds of a few seconds each,’ he said.
The huge Komodo dragons look like they could have been taken straight from a scene of the popular 1959 sci-fi film Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
Giant Komodo dragons have been captured battling it out with each other in a scene that looks like it is straight out of a 1950’s adventure film
The incredible images showing the two large male dragons locked in a fight were captured on the Indonesian island of Rinca by wildlife photographer Andrey Gudkov
Mr Gudkov had been coming to the island of Rinca for several years hoping to capture the dragons in action
Usually, fights between male dragons occur during the mating season, which lasts throughout August, but Mr Gudkov captured these impressive pictures in December
The Komodo dragons look like they could have been taken from a scene in the popular 1959 sci-fi film Journey to the Centre of the Earth, pictured above
‘Finally, I happened to travel there in December. And it was then that two large males met at the top of the hill,’ photographer Andrey Gudvok said
A Russian wildlife photographer has travelled to some of the most distant and dangerous countries in the world in an effort to capture incredible images of wild animals living their natural habitat
Andrey Gudkov, 48, has travelled to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Madagascar, Indonesia, China, India, Ecuador, Chile, Mexico, Cuba, and the United States and Canada among dozens of other countries
The photographer hopes to show people the disappearing, rare beauty and variety of life forms with his mind-blowing images
Andrey explained: ‘The countries I have been to, they are also dangerous places. For example, countries with an unstable political situation, where there are frequent armed conflicts’
Andrey says: ‘Nature there still preserves its original beauty, untouched by the ubiquitous technological progress and globalization’
Andrey said his passion for photographing wild animals began after watching David Attenborough’s TV programs
‘In the late 80s, I first picked up National Geographic magazine. It was a cultural shock to me. The pictures were fascinating, I was so attracted, and all of the images seemed to be some kind of fantastic and unrealistic,’ Andrey said
A stunning image of a crocodile hunting prey. The photographer said he can often spend 6-9 months to prepare and organize an expedition, and will only get three or four shooting days
He said the most difficult aspect of being a wildlife photographer is a ‘very complex, specific genre of photography, requiring a photographer to be specially trained, and to have a specific kind of character’
A guerrilla is pictured in its natural habitat. Andrey says a wildlife photographer requires being prepared for ‘poor living conditions and camping life. Dirt, dust, rains, sun heat and trauma will be your inevitable companions’
A spectacular image of a crab captured by Russian photographer Andrey Gudkov. ‘It seems to me that most naturalist photographers are inveterate introverts,’ he said
A touching image of two giraffes pictured together. ‘There were times I would wake at 4 am a few days in a row and realize that I needed to go another 15 kilometers through the rain-blurred tropical forest with almost 100% humidity, with equipment weighing 20 kg for the sake of several shots,’ the photographer said
‘Patience, endurance, iron nerves and silence are your main companions,’ Andrey said of his work