buffalo – Page 7 – Christian Sperka Photography

2012-11-03

The Big Five in One Drive!

After two weeks of rain, wind and cold we had some great drives in the last few days.

During the bad weather it was very difficult to find animals. They all were hiding in the thick bush from heavy rains, very strong winds and many thunderstorms.

But this morning we got rewarded for our hard work and patience. When we left the lodge we spotted a Leopard just as we left (he did not stick around, but we got a good look). Then we met our dominate male Lion on to of a hill. We tracked our Buffalo herd and just as we left them we saw two White Rhinos (mother and daughter) in an open area. Before we headed back to the lodge we went to the area where we saw the breeding herd of Elephants last. We did not find them but we found one of our oldest Elephant bulls. After observing him for a while we turned back to the lodge.

We also saw Giraffe, Zebra, Impala, Nyala, Kudu, Waterbuck and Wildebeest.

It seemed that all the animals wanted to make an appearance after the long absence from the Safari stage 🙂

PS: All pictures above were taken today!

2012-10-26

Buffalo Droppings

Well, dung plays a huge role in the bush 🙂

Here are two examples of its use, which are quite unusual.

We were watching a herd of Buffalo having a rest in the grass when two White Rhinos (mother and calf) moved right in between and started chasing the Buffalo around.

The reason was to get to the fresh droppings of these large ruminants. Both mother and calf started eating the fresh droppings with obvious gusto. I am not sure why, but I assume there is something in fresh Buffalo dung that is good for Rhinos :-).

And then I saw a Buffalo cow moving across with a calf drinking while they were moving. This is quite usual.

And while the young one was drinking the mother defecated copiously on top of the calf’s head. This did not disturb the little one as it kept drinking. After a while it moved off with its unusual “head-cover”.

I learn new things every day, even about dung!

2012-10-21

Identified

The picture in the previous post was of two Cape Buffalo bulls fighting!

Here is the complete picture.

PS: Please note the “un-disturbed” Oxpecker on the bull to the left 🙂

2012-09-16

Buffalo – up close and personal!

Today we had three encounters on foot with male Cape Buffalo. They can be extremely dangerous and aggressive. We got proof of that today!

The first encounter was with two quite calm animals (the one in this picture).

Then we “bumped” into another bull only 15 meters away from us. He took flight and we extracted to a save location. On the way back to the camp another group of “Dugga Boys” spotted us and chased us across a dry riverbed. We had to take a longer route to get back to the camp. Enough Buffalo for one day – up close and personal!

There are no picture from encounters two and three. We were busy dealing with the situation and with getting back in one piece to the camp – no time for pictures 🙂

PS: If you like to know more about the Trails Guiding Course go to http://www.africanaturetraining.co.za. A great experience, even if you do it for fun and not for professional reasons.

2012-08-30

Walk the Mapogo Males

You may never heard of the Mapogo Male Lion Coalition of the Sabi Sands. For years a six male coalition “ruled” the Lion prides in the Sabi Sands. Two of these (now ten year old) Lions are still alive. Today we found and walked these two legendary males. We took a direct approach in which we made sure that the Lions knew we were there. The picture above was taken during the encounter.

We approached to about 50 meters (~ 130 feet) when one of the Lions showed some sign of “dis-comfort” with our presence. We extracted slowly (and safely) from the sighting. It was one of the most exciting things I ever done in my life!

We then went back and viewed them from our game viewer.

In the last few days we completed walks 6,7,8 and 9. This makes it now 49 km (= 31 miles) and 28 hours walking in the bush during the last week. The two pictures below are sightings of White Rhino and Buffalo on foot.

PS: If you like to know more about the Trails Guiding Course go to http://www.africanaturetraining.co.za. A great experience, even if you do it for fun and not for professional reasons.

To read more about the Mapogo males go to

History of the Mighty Mapogo Male Lions – by Brett Thomson

2012-08-052012-08-05

Battle at Thanda – YouTube Video

A lot of people have asked me if they were more images of the Battle at Thanda.

(Blog message from 9 July 2012 https://christiansperka.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/battle-at-thanda/).

Here is link to a YouTube Video with video footage and with more images of the interaction:

CAUTION: PLEASE DO NOT PLAY THE VIDEO IF YOU ARE DISTURBED BY WILD ANIMAL INTERACTION VIDEOS AND PICTURES!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOEe5QeiKuU

Thanks to Mariana Venter for letting me use the video footage and some of the images she took at the encounter.

2012-07-31

A Game Drive in Pictures!

This is the picture story of today’s evening game drive.

After leaving the camp we first encountered Giraffes with Oxpeckers on them.

We moved on to view a large group of Zebra.

Then we spotted an Elephant bull while we were looking for …

… the herd of Buffalo. The volunteers on my vehicle were most impressed when we were surrounded by one of the “Big Five”.

And while we were viewing the Buffalo we heard about a Cheetah sighting at a waterhole nearby.

After the Cheetah left we stayed until the sun was gone to take a few beautiful pictures of the sunset over the dam.

Another hard day in Africa 🙂

2012-07-092012-08-05

Battle at Thanda

If you ever have seen the YouTube video “Battle at Kruger” here are images of a similar scenario at Thanda Private Game Reserve.

The actors in the drama were a herd of Buffalo, a Buffalo calf, a male Lion and an Elephant bull.

CAUTION: PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL DOWN AND READ FURTHER IF YOU ARE DISTURBED BY WILD ANIMAL INTERACTION PICTURES!

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THIS ENCOUNTER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOEe5QeiKuU

It all started with the herd of Buffalo drinking at a waterhole. A young Buffalo calf had an injury above its left front leg which seem to have resulted in an infection. The calf could no longer follow the herd when they were ready to leave the waterhole.

Its cries for help attracted a male Lion who came to investigate. When he attacked the calf the Buffalo herd returned to the waterhole to defend the calf. The lion ran off.

The herd tried to leave again, but the calf – now also injured from the lion attack – could not follow. The Lion moved in again without actually making contact with the calf. This is my first picture as I arrived on the scene at this stage – the Assistant Wildlife Manager – Mariana – was already on the scene.

The herd drove the Lion off again.

And now an bull Elephant arrived at the waterhole to have a drink. He first ignored the calf now lying on the ground. At this stage I had to leave, so the following pictures are thanks to Mariana, who continued operating my camera in my absence (Excellent job – thanks!)

The lion tried to move in again, but the Elephant now drove him off. The Buffalo returned and guarded the calf for a while with the Elephant watching.

Only after all Buffalos and the Elephant had left the scene did the Lion return. He then carried away the carcass into thick bush.

The most amazing thing for me was that the small calf faced the lion and did not try to run away – a true Buffalo!

Below is a picture of the calf with its mother, which I took four days ago. At that stage the wound was visible, but the calf was still fully mobile.

A bit sad, but this is nature at work!

2012-07-04

Crash and Pain

Another day with a lot of beginner’s luck. I set out with my group of volunteers this afternoon and the consent was that they all wanted to see Rhinos. One of my fellow guides suggested to look in an area around a waterhole with quite thick bush.

We found some Rhino middens (piles of dung) along the roads. These usually mark the boundary of a Rhino’s territory. We drove around for about an hour and found no fresh tracks, but we were very lucky and turned around a corner to meet a crash of six White Rhinos. We watched the beautiful creatures for over an hour and followed them to the waterhole, where they had their evening drink.

After we left the sighting we ran into a herd of Buffalo. The two males in the picture were sparring. It looked quite painful!

Another hard day in Africa 🙂

2012-06-20

Surrounded!

Still learning the roads 🙂 – Today I drove on the reserve from 9am to 5pm and I am quite tired now.

In the late afternoon I got surrounded by a herd of Buffalo. Have a look at the pictures to see how close they get. There attitude would change completely if one should get out of the car. They would go immediately into defense/attack mode.

Also I found a vista point from where one has a beautful view of Thanda and the hills beyond. I have included a picture looking at Thanda’s southern area.

Tomorrow I have to go to town (Richards Bay) to get some more things I need and to take care of some customs business (to get all my belongings into the country).

Enjoy the pictures!