This male Cheetah was vocalizing to call his brother.
If you want to hear what it sounds go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtG9Xhqzcf8.
Have a good week!
Bush Statistics :-)
Today I put together my Thanda sighting report. I had a total of 183 major/special game sightings since I arrived at Thanda in June.
Here are the detailed numbers 🙂
42 x Lions / 40 x Elephants / 34 x Cheetah / 32 x Buffalo / 23 x White Rhino / 3 x Spotted Hyena / 2 x Leopard / 1 x Black Rhino / 1 x African Wild Dog /5 x Others (Jackal, Python, Puff Adder, Vultures)
And here are three of my favorite pictures from this week …
… our Elephant herd moving away from me. Please note the little one (2 weeks old) in between!
… two Zebras biting one another “lovingly”
… one of the Cheetah brothers walking close to my camera (on the savanna)
Cheetah Pose
Our two male Cheetah were demonstrating two very typical Cheetah poses. They were scanning their surroundings for possible prey!
More about Cheetahs:
The Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. Cheetahs can run faster than any other land animal, up to 120 km/h (up to 75 mph) in short bursts covering distances up to 500 m (1,600 ft), and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in three seconds.
Cheetahs have unusually low genetic variability. It is thought that the species went through a prolonged period of inbreeding following a genetic bottleneck during the last ice age. The Cheetah likely evolved in Africa during the Miocene epoch (26 million to 7.5 million years ago).
Brothers!
These two Cheetah brothers have a strong bond since many years. Unlike female Cheetah, who are always solitary, Cheetah males often form coalitions. Being able to groom one another is one of the advantages of such a relationship.
King Cheetah
Today I saw my first King Cheetah!
I arrived in Hoedspruit a bit earlier than expected so I visited the Hoedspruit Engangered Species Center. This institution is successfully breeding various engangered species. Their main focus are Cheetahs and I was lucky to see a King Cheetah (A rare Cheetah mutation) stalking a small boy who shouted a bit too loudly and attracted the Cheetah’s attention (no worries there, was a fence between the animal and the boy :-)).
More about King Cheetah:
The King Cheetah is a rare mutation of Cheetah characterized by a distinct fur pattern. In 1927, the naturalist Reginald Innes Pocock declared it a separate species, but reversed this decision in 1939 due to lack of evidence. Its species status was resolved in 1981 when King Cheetahs were born at the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre in South Africa. Two spotted sisters gave birth there and each litter contained one King Cheetah. The sisters had both mated with a wild-caught male. A recessive gene must be inherited from both parents for this pattern to appear, which is one reason why it is so rare.
Cheetah Calling!
Yesterday I followed our two male Cheetah when one of them picked up the scent of a female.
Below is a link to a short video with him calling for the Cheetah Lady 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtG9Xhqzcf8
Enjoy the weekend.
Massive, Flight and Almost!
On today’s game drive we had an encounter with the massive bulk of seven White Rhinos …
… and some Zebras took flight when we approached a waterhole.
At the end of the day two male Cheetah almost caught an Impala.
We also saw an Elephant bull and a group of Wildebeest at the waterhole.
Not a bad Monday.
Return from Town!
When I returned from a day in Richards Bay two male Cheetahs were greeting me at the gate guard house (These Cheetah are very used to the gate traffic and ignore the guard in the building – he is perfectly safe :-)).
And once I had returned to Thanda house two Zebra had a good fight in front of the fence (the “whitish” distortions in the picture).
Before the sun set a female Scarlet-breasted Sunbird was looking for food in one of the trees in front for my room.
There is never a dull moment on Thanda, even after a day in town!
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 🙂
Giraffe and Cheetah
Day 2 of driving the photography volunteers was great!
In this picture five of the volunteers are taking pictures of a Giraffe bull (we were in a Buffalo sighting at the time :-). My colleague Simo is driving the Land Rover in the picture. The other five volunteers were in my car.
In the afternoon I took a picture of a male Cheetah. He was resting with his brother in the shade of a tree on the savanna.
Enjoy the pictures!
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 