Pittrack K9 Conservation Unit and Photography

Pittrack K9 Conservation Unit and Photography is a project that I am proud to have been able to have made possible.

What all started during lock down, finally took a breath on its own in late December 2021. Let us go back to April 2020 in the early stages of Lockdown. With time on my hands, I sat and made a list of things I would like to achieve in the next 2 years and started to figure out what and how.

First was how I could make some more direct contribution to conservation in South Africa specifically. I have been involved in a few special projects making large donations possible in Africa. These are the Remembering Wildlife books and the Prints for Wildlife. It is an honour and a privilege to be able to use my creative gifts, passion for light and my love of Africa to contribute in a small way.

A close friend has been very involved on the ground with an amazing team of humans that put their lives at risk, on a daily basis in the Greater Kruger with a team of specialized anti-poaching dogs, they are the team at PITTRACK K9 Conservation Unit. Having been in the South African Defense Force myself, I am able to understand and relate to their daily workload and pressure in a “combat zone”, and recent statistics show that at any given time there are up to 30 active teams of poachers active in the Greater Kruger National Park. Physical contacts are regular and during specific phases of the moon, every second day.

I decided that I would compile a Black and White coffee table book of my most personal photography work and take the proceeds from sales and use it towards supporting PITTRACK K9 Conservation Unit. It was a labour of love but in September 2022 I was able to fill the orders of 100 books that I had pre-ordered. Books went throughout the world, and I am totally thankful for all the support I was give.

The photography book is titled, CONFLICT OF LIGHT and I am truly blessed that two photographers that have inspired me the most, influential wildlife photographers, Jonathan and Angela Scott honored me by writing the forward for this body of work. The book and information can be seen here in the store, CONFLICT OF LIGHT. I am taking pre-orders for the second edition that will be available in the next few weeks. I will again be supporting PITTRACK K9 Conservation Unit.

With all this support, I was blessed to get further assistance from Canon South Africa who helped me supply the team with 4 Power Shot Zoom Cameras with proceeds of the book project. Part of the use of these units will be to document individual animals with photo and video. Now that the operators can stay at a safe distance from the subject, the images can be collected without stressing the animal or putting the operator in danger. In the past they have used their cellphones or other digital communication devices which also only provided some poor-quality images. They are small, efficient, and fit well into the existing kit that they are using.

Pittrack K9 Conservation Unit and Andrew Aveley

I hope you will consider supporting a soon to be announced project to generate funds to supply much needed equipment they need. It will be posted on this blog and through the social media channels of Andrew Aveley Photography, Wild Expressions Photo Tours and Safaris and PITTRACK K9 Conservation Unit.

Be safe and follow your heart,

Andrew