Author: Christian Sperka

Christian Sperka is a wildlife photographer based at Thanda Private Game Reserve, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Over the last 11 years, Christian has traveled the world photographing animals in wild game reserves of South Africa and Namibia, the jungles of Costa Rica, in Yellowstone National Park in the USA, as well as zoos in Europe and the United States. His work has been featured in wildlife magazines, in books and in many zoo publications. He actively supports wild cat conservation, working as a partner photographer for Panthera, the world's leading organization devoted to the conservation of all wild cat species (panthera.org). From 2009 to 2012 he has worked as the official photographer and photography teacher at Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, Tennessee, USA (nashvillezoo.org). Christian is also a qualified South African field guide. He now works as specialist photography guide on Thanda Private Game Reserve in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa (thanda.com).
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What a week!

Last weekend I was very busy in the office and teaching photography at Thanda. On Monday I went to Pongola to get my car serviced and for a short visit to Pakamisa. On Tuesday and Wednesday I ran errands in Durban where a met a very cute puppy dog. Yesterday and today I played again catch-up in the office.

But, I still got a bit of photography done. At Pakamisa I took some pictures of Isabella working with one of her horses and at the Thanda House Waterhole (next to my home) I got some good pictures of Elephants, of Giraffes and of a young Lioness. I also shot some good-bye pictures of our young male Lion, who will leave the reserve soon for a new home. And in between I posted one of my favorite Leopard shots (taken in 2006) on Facebook.

So, here is my week in pictures. Enjoy them and the weekend 🙂

PS: As a bonus I added a short Thanda Elephants video – four times the regular speed!

Watching Giraffes …
Watching out for Lions … (for the biders: there is a Wahlberg’s Eagle in the tree!)
Well hidden …
Leaving Thanda for a new home soon …
Having a bath …
… and a good scratch …
Isabella working with Joaquino …
An excited Pakamisa mare …
… and one of my favorite Leopard pictures taken in 2006 …
… and a cute little puppy I met in Umhlanga (Durban)!
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The perfect look!

Many of you probably wondered why I was posting so little over the last few weeks. I was extremely busy at work and I had not much time to prepare posts. On the other hand I have collected a lot of material for future posts 🙂

Today I thought I share two of my recent Lion portraits with you. Sometimes it is not the photographer who gets it right, sometimes it is the model! Both of these cats got the perfect look!

Enjoy your weekend.

Lion

Lioness

 

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Gentle Giant Research

One of my most special experiences as a Wildlife Photographer so far!

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1

This week marks a particularly exciting event at Thanda Safari.

In partnering with the Wild Tomorrow Fund, we were able to immobilise three carefully selected Elephants in order to attach tracking collars. Two dominant Elephant cows and a single large bull will now be collecting valuable data which will enable us to see exactly how the breeding herds and a bachelor group utilise their time and space on the reserve. This will offer insights into habitat use as well as movement patterns over rainfall events and seasonal changes. At the same time, multiple micro weather stations have been installed throughout the reserve and the Elephant movements over the landscapes will be mapped considering the daily changes in climatic conditions.

While we had the opportunity, blood samples were taken as part of a study with the University of Pretoria which will investigate the long-term effects of the PZP immuno-contraception programme which has…

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