Category: elephant

I had some good sightings over the last few days, but the clear number one was the one of almost fifty Elephants having fun in and around a waterhole.

We watched them for almost two hours until the sun had set and the last bulls had left the water.

It started with two herds rushing towards one of our largest dams at the same time. There was a bit of tension between the two groups which led to some stampeding. A few of them left for a little while, but then returned to the wet.

On this 35°C day (95°F) they obviously enjoyed drinking, swimming, spraying, mudding, diving, sparring, and even a bit of rough playing.

I hope you will enjoy this slide show with a few of my pictures.

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Elephants are amazing parents. In my experience, protecting their young is always their priority.

This picture shows one of the moments when this behavior became obvious. A Thanda Safari herd strolled down an open road at a very fast pace, spread out quite a bit. However, the moment they spotted my vehicle in the distance, they immediately bunched up and placed all their youngsters between them for protection.

Just after I took this picture, I moved out of the way. They then continued their tight formation walk until they disappeared into the surrounding trees.

Another fun fact: When Elephants stop to evaluate a situation they often shake their heads rather violently once they appear to have made up their mind what to do next. I have observed this behavior on many occasions.

Technical data (First): Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 200 | 1/750sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 190mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 20% of original image

Technical data (Second): Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 160 | 1/500sec | f6.3 | ev-0.50 | 190mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 10% of original image

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As Elephants cannot sweat they had to come up with other methods to keep cool or cool down.

They pump a lot of blood through large veins in their flapping ears (which represent about 20% of their body surface), they throw wet mud on themselves using their trunks as large mud cannons, on very hot days they spend a lot of time submerged in water, and they try to stay in shady places.

The deep grooves on their skin help them to stay wet for a while after a bath. The evaporating water adds additional cooling.

And after a mud bath they love to add a layer of sand to protect their skin from the sun and parasites.

The bull in this picture had a bath, flapped his ears, mudded himself, and then applied a layer of sand to complete the perfect Elephant spa treatment. He even tried to spray some of the mud at our vehicle, but we stayed well out of his reach.

Technical data (right): Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 160 | 1/500sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 160 mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode

Technical data (left): Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 320 | 1/500sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 170mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode

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This evening – just before sunset – I have watched an Elephant bull having a great time at a muddy waterhole.

He first drank a bit of water from one of the remaining puddles (this waterhole will be dry soon, if no new rain arrives), followed by a proper mud-wallow.

To my surprise he then proceeded to have a nap for about 10 minutes lying very still in the cooling wet.

Once he finished with his ‘spa treatment’ he proceeded to throw sand on himself, before returning to peaceful gazing away from the water.

Technical data for all three images: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 4000 | 1/750sec | f6.7 | ev+0 | 240mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | cropped

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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

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… means ‘the quiet one’ in isiZulu. This is a very apt name for one of our oldest and largest Elephant bulls.

If you look carefully at this pictures you can see him dribbling urine from his penial shief (between his back legs). This means that he is in musth (heightened sexual activity period) and dribbles liquid all day.

But unlike most younger bulls this over six ton old gentleman remain quite gentle. When I encountered him last night at dusk he moved quietly swaggering past my vehicles while stopping from time to time to nibble on some trees and grasses.

PS: He is partially wet in this picture as he had just mudded himself at a small waterhole.

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 3200 | 1/750sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 100mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 10% of original image

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This little Elephant took a nose dive, or better trunk dive, in front of its mum. The small creature was sparring with another calf when it suddenly decided to catch up with mum, in the hurry stumbling over its own feet. The large female gently used her trunk to get her offspring back up.

Elephant calfs are very playful and often overestimate their capabilities, getting themselves into trouble. Elephant adults are some of the best parents on earth and are usually able to help their youngsters.

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 320 | 1/500sec | f5.6 | ev+0 | 120mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 10% of original image

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Baby Elephants are very cute to watch. Even when they are still quite small they like to play hard, especially if they encounter a muddy patch. These two youngster had a great time while their tolerant elders watched over them.

Baby Elephants weight between 90 and 120kg (200-260lbs) at birth. Most of all births happen at night, after a 22 months gestation period.

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 4000 | 1/500sec | ev+0 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 35% of original image | hand-held | Image taken at 12:30 midday

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Human tears are often associated with emotions. These can be tears of joy or sorrow.

African Elephants have temporal glands between their eyes and their ears (males and females). When they secret a dark, oily, musky liquid it is usually a sign for them being in a special emotional state. This can be sexual (especially with Elephant bulls in musth), but it can have many other reasons, like being a sign of distress when running into Lions, or being a sign of excitement when meeting up with another Elephant group.

Half an hour ago I took this picture of a young bull who started secreting from the gland after a sparring session with another bull. But his dry back legs would indicated that he is not in musth. Musth bulls have to get rid of their excess testosterone by constantly dribbling urine and have therefore wet legs.

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 64000 | 1/500sec | f11 | ev+0 | 800mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 90% of original image

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

I love this picture, taken last Sunday. A herd of Elephants had just finished drinking at the small pond in front of the Thanda Safari Lodge when they paraded in single file up the hillside. It was a cloudy and rainy day, which gives this image a rather eerie quality.

Elephants drink a lot of water. A large bull can take in over 200 liters (50 gallons) in just five minutes. They use their trunk like a syringe to squirt water into their mouth. The trunk is an elongated nose and not a straw-like device. And as you know one cannot drink through ones nose!

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 1600 | 1/125sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 240mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 50% of original image

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