Week in Pictures: Best of 2016

Well, here we are, at the very end of 2016! In an astonishing hurry, another year has flown past, and what we’ve seen in the bush has made us breathless, ecstatic, amazed, and heartbroken. The wild world continues, no matter the day of the week, the time of day, or the significance of another calendar year rolling over. Seasons have come and gone, and the extreme conditions of a drought have left their scars on the earth. Fortunately we have entered a wet summer, and the emerald green trees have made it into our view finders once again. Photography has captured some of the special moments we have witnessed this year, in the bustling bush of Kruger and the rolling plains and wetlands of Botswana. Every Friday, we have reported back with the best shots of the week, and now, at the end of the year, we get to look back on 365 days of wildlife photography and select what we feel are the best of all. Here, to celebrate the end of 2016, are the best picks from our photographers over the past year in the wild in the grand finale Week in Pictures!

Tuskers Bush Camp & Xobega Island Camp, Botswana

Yellow-billed stork in flight

A giraffe silhouette stands out on a cloudy horizon

Dust bath in motion

Safety in numbers

Ezulwini Game Lodges, Balule Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger

A pride of lion in the spotlight behind a mass of summer thicket

A marabou stork launches itself in one grand swoop

The boss of the bush

A silver lining glows around the face of a young male lion from Duma's Pride

Africa on Foot, Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger

Wild dog pups amid a meat-eating scramble

The world's tallest mammal gets the best view of the jewel-toned sunset

The Treehouse at the centre of the galaxy

Baring all 4 canines in a grand show of the Flehmen Grimace

Umkumbe Safari Lodge, Sabi Sand Wildtuin, Greater Kruger

Liquid gaze projected at the birds sharing Hlarulini's tree space

Kigelia basks in the last light of the day

Inyathini throws a meaningful glare in the direction of his admirers

Mighty Mxabene carries his kill into the setting sun

nThambo Tree Camp, Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger

Electric storm sets the sky on fire over Klaserie

Up close with one of Africa's big cats

Mouthfuls of greens for our modern day mammoths

Golden-eyed glare