Category: THANDA

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Small Kill!

As we drove through some high grass during yesterday evening’s game drive my tracker Bheki collected this fighting pair from our vehicle’s front fender. The small spider and the small Praying Mantis were in a fight for their lives.

When we encountered the two contestants the spider was missing two front legs but he had one of the Praying Mantis’ legs firmly locked in his pincers. We were not sure if the spider lost his legs in this fight or if he entered the contest thus handicapped.

After a few minutes struggle the spider had won and the Praying Mantis had died. It was astonishing how quickly the strong green color faded from the dead creature.

We carefully transferred the winner with his price into a nearby acacia and continued on our drive.

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 320 | 1/500sec | f6.7 | ev+0.5 | 240mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 5% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Agile!

I had no idea how agile a 700kg (1500lbs) Cape Buffalo bull can be. These two beautiful specimens were sparring for a considerable time next to a small Thanda Safari waterhole. After a vigorous display of their agility they settled down to grazing harmoniously.

These two were obviously not with a herd. As they do not appear to be old guys, I assume they were on temporary leave. Once their time-away is over they are likely to rejoin their herd and once again fight with the other bulls for a place in the herd hierarchy.

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 4000 | 1/2000sec | f5.6 | ev+0 | 90mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 60% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Zebroids!

Did you know that Zebras can crossbreed with other equine species? When Zebras hybridize, the resulting offspring are called Zebroids. The most common hybrid is the Zorse, a cross between a Zebra and a Horse.

Zebroids often exhibit a combination of traits, such as striped legs and a Horse-like body shape. However, Zebra crossbreeds rarely occur in the wild.

Like mules and hinnies they are generally unable to breed, due to an odd number of chromosomes disrupting meiosis (cell division of germ cells).

Looking at ‘googled’ pictures of Zebroids I am reminded of an extinct relative of modern Zebras, called a Quagga (which still lends its name to the scientific term for today’s Plains Zebra = Equus.quagga).

I took this morning light portrait of this Burchell’s Zebra (Equus quagga burchellii – Southern subspecies of the Plains Zebra) last week on Thanda.

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240m | ISO 2000 | 1/750sec | f6.7 | ev+1 | 160mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 25% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Topsy-Turvy!

My knowledge about the relationship between White Rhino and Cape Buffalo was severely challenged last night.

Usually when the two species meet the Buffalos will respectfully give space to the much larger and heavier Rhinos.

But at an encounter yesterday evening a Buffalo bull attacked a young Rhino bull, hit him twice with this boss and then chased him away.

What a show!

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 20000 | 1/500sec | f5.6 | ev+0 | 90mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 10% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Tear Lines and Wide-Angle-View

Cheetahs’ eyes are designed to give them a wide-angle view of their surroundings. And their small, flat-faced heads allow their eyes to be positioned for maximum binocular vision.

These beautiful cats also have evolved to reduce the glare from the sun in their view. Black tear lines (or malar stripes) run from their eyes down the sides of their nose to the mouth, attracting the sun away from the eyes.

Yesterday I took this picture in shallow, soft evening light. Both the Cheetah’s eyes and the tear lines are beautifully displayed.

PS: All adult Cheetahs at Thanda Safari have radio collars, which allow our Wildlife team to monitor this endangered species on the reserve.

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 400 | 1/500sec | ev+0 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 25% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Two Europeans!

Yesterday evening I took these images of two of my favorit Europeans.

The first one is a European Bee-eater and the second one is a European Roller.

They are seasonal migrants which spend March to September in the Northern Hemisphere and for the rest of the year they return to the South to enjoy our summer.

About 12% of all bird species on Thanda Safari‘s bird list are summer migrants.

Both birds are great photographic targets as they often perch in the sun. They also often return repeatedly to the same branch after catching insects on a short flight. If one times it carefully, one can catch them with open wings during landing.

Technical data (Bee-eater): Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 320 | 1/500sec | ev+0.5 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 25% of original image

Technical data (Roller): Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 320 | 1/500sec | ev-0.5 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 10% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Flying Dung!

There is a curious traditional sport in South Africa. It is called Kudu dung-spitting (Bokdrol Spoeg in the Afrikaans language).

The winner is the contestant who is able to spit one of the small, hard Kudu dung pellets the furthest.

Unlike many similar sports, the distance is measured from the marker to the place the dung pellet comes to rest, rather than where it initially hit the ground.

The world record stands at 15.56m (51″), set in 2006 by Shaun van Rensburg from Addo.

I know this sounds like a joke fit for first of April. But it is quite true. I have tried it myself, but I got nowhere near the work record.

When you visit South Africa you may try it yourself. Good luck!

Technical data: Canon 1D Mark IV with EF lens f4/500mm | ISO 2000 | 1/2000sec | f4 | ev-1 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 75% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Flehmen!

Flehmen is a behavior observed in many mammal species particularly ungulates and carnivores. It involves the curling of the upper lip and a raising of the head, to expose the vomeronasal organ (or Jacobson’s organ), located within the nasal cavity.

This behavior is exhibited (mostly by males) when animals encounter interesting scents, especially pheromones associated with potential reproductive activities.

The Cape Buffalo bull in this pictures was checking the air for signs of any of the females in his herd requiring his services.

In humans this organ exists but is ‘out of use’. And that is not a bad thing. Otherwise young men would constantly walk around with a raised head and curled upper lips. 😊

Technical data: Canon 1D Mark IV with EF lens f3.5-5.6/28-300mm | ISO 1600 | 1/1000sec | f5.6 | ev-.5 | 270mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 60% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Cool!

Many mammals, like this White Rhino bull, frequently wallow in mud and, on hot days, remain for a long time semi-submerged in their personal spa.

They do this for a multitude of reasons.

First – The drying mud withdraws heat from the body and cools them down.

Second – A layer of mud protects the skin against the direct sun, a bit like sun-screen for humans.

Third – The mud cover helps keeping parasites away from the skin.

Fourth – When rubbing on trees the mud can help to cleanse the outer layers of the skin, especially if it is wrinkled.

If you ever feel very hot and you pass an inviting looking mud-hole on a hot day then you could try this yourself. Just watch out for other mud hole visitors! ☺️

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 3200 | 1/500sec | f6.7 | ev+0 | 240mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 50% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Twilight

Sometimes the camera can see more than the human eye. I this case I got this image of an Elephant cow eating grass in the twilight, after the sun had set. With my eyes I only saw the outline of the huge form above the grass.

Elephant have to eat most of the day and night, as they have to ingest up to 300kg (660lbs) per day to sustain their huge bulk.The foods they consume (Grass- and tree-materials) are ‘low-energy-containing’, so a lot is needed.

A Lion in contrast eats very ‘high-energy-containing’ foods (Meat, intestines, and bones) and can therefore rest most of the day.

Result: Lions sleep up to 18 hours a day. Elephants eat up to 18 hours a day! To a gourmet glutton, who likes his sleep, both sounds appealing 😊

Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f4.0/500mm | ISO 12800 | 1/180sec | f4 | ev-0.5 | 500mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 50% of original image | beanbag support

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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