Topic: Young Cape Buffalo staring at the camera
Technical data: Apple 16 Pro Max | Telephoto Camera 120mm | ISO 100 | 1/100sec | f2.8 | ev-0.7 | Portrait Mode
Picture of the Day!
Pure excitement!
Yesterday, we had a very exciting afternoon.
We had set up a special drink stop for a shoot in the middle of the savanna when a herd of Cape Buffalo was stampeding across the open area a few hundred meters away.
They were chased by two male lions who took down a buffalo cow.
We quickly got everyone in vehicles and drove to the kill location. As we arrived, the buffalo herd was still very close to the large cats with their kill.
After a few growls, the herd moved off, and the lions dug into their large meal.
We watched them for a while before returning to the drink stop setup and continuing our photo shoot in the beautiful evening light.
What a day!
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Very keen!
Normally, Cape buffalo are very calm creatures in their herd structure.
The males occasionally engage in fighting to establish their ranking order, and if any predators are in the vicinity, the herd groups together and chases them away.
However, if a female goes into estrous, all the dominant males (top-ranking) start chasing her around, and the fastest and strongest will mate with her.
On occasion, the males get it wrong and mount one of the younger bulls instead, obviously to no avail!
I took this picture of such an occasion on the Thanda savanna this afternoon.
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 1000 | 1/2000sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 240mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 5% of the original image | Please note: The picture quality is marginal due to cropping, but I thought the scene worth showing
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Just born!
On the weekend we found this very young Cape Buffalo calf and its mum. The little one stayed very close to its mother, who still showed all the signs of a recent birth.
It is very important for the calf to get licked and nuzzled by mum and lick and nuzzle mum. It creates a bond that is important for them to identify one another within a herd.
We observed them for a while and I was fascinated by the big eyes in the small head 🙂
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 2000 | 1/500sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 150mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode
Have a good week 🙂
PS: I will be on a trip to Europe from end of this week until mid of June. My wildlife blogs/posts will resume on 17 June.
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
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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
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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
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Dugga Boy…
… is the term for a Cape Buffalo bull who is no longer with its herd. Such bulls life either in small groups or alone.
The separation from their herd can have one of two reasons. They might be very old and no longer able to keep up with the herd and/or no longer willing to fight the younger bulls for position.
Or they might just be taking a time-out from rank fighting and looking after the ladies. In that case they will stay away for a while, improve their condition by feeding well and getting strong to return back to their herd in due course. This picture shows such a Dugga Boy!
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm
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A Thanda Safari waterhole drama in four acts!
Act 1
A herd of Cape Buffalo arrives at a waterhole and the mud-bathing Elephants get so alarmed that they run from the water protecting their young.
Act 2
The Elephants realize that the new arrivals are no real threat but are rather small ‘cow-like’ things. So some of them return to the water and chase the Buffalo around.
Act 3
While the Elephants and Buffalo run around a group of Nyala, a family of Warthogs and many different birds arrive to get their share of the water.
Act 4
Only two Elephant bulls remain to suck the pipe which supplies fresh water to the waterhole. Everything has calmed down and all the different species share the place!
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CHECKING THE AIR!
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