Toxic Beauty

As a wildlife photographer coming from Southern Africa, visiting Costa Rica and witnessing the vibrant colours was something out of the ordinary for me. Ethics regarding the animal's comfort is crucial for me. With the assistance of local guides, we took some test flashes of each animal, and after observing their body behaviours and seeing that the flashes did not bother them, I pursued the capturing of these images. Captured here is known as a Strawberry Poison Dart Frog, also known as the Blue Jeans Poison Dart Frog. It is a brightly coloured amphibian found in the rainforests of Central and South America. Its vibrant colours of blue and red serve as a warning to potential predators that it is highly toxic, known as Aposematic Colouration. Despite its small size, only growing up to two inches long, it packs a powerful punch with its toxic secretions.