Panthera is the only organization in the world devoted exclusively to the conservation of the world’s 38 wild cat species and their ecosystems. I work as one of their partner photographers since many years. This month they have selected one of my favorite Cheetah images as their photo of the month. Have a look at this month’s Panthera Newsletter.
I am working on organizing all the Wildlife images, which I took between 2001 and 2010. This is a major undertaking which will take me many month.
But one of the rewards of this -sometime tedious – work is that I find some good images I have never published before. Here is one of them. Three Cheetah cubs watching their mum going off to hunt.
Precious 🙂
Watching Africa’s iconic large cats – Lion, Leopard and Cheetah – is always a special treat on any safari. But these three sighting were even more exciting than usual. First we saw Thanda’s dominant male Lion mating with the oldest female of the Mduna pride. Then we observed a young Cheetah female doing what Cheetahs ‘never do’, climbing up a tree trunk. And last but not least we sat with a relaxed and very beautiful male Leopard for quite a while, in broad day light!
A pleasure for the Thanda guests and great picture opportunities for all Wildlife photographers among them!
Well, this title might be a bit misleading 🙂
When I left Thanda House this afternoon for a quick visit to friends on a neighbouring reserve, I left Thanda’s two Cheetah boys in charge of perimeter security around Thanda House.
As I drove onto the reserve where my friends live, I took pictures of two little White Rhinos at play. 
And when I got back to Thanda a young Elephant bull gave me a rather excited welcome. From the way he reacted to my vehicle, looking at the glands on his forehead and judging from other obvious signs of excitement :-), he may be getting into musth.
Not the regular house cats, not the average kits at play and a rather unusual excited gentleman in front of the house, but another really good afternoon in the African bush!
… no more words, just the image …
I have selected fourteen images which are now hanging in two of the suites at Thanda’s Villa iZulu. These are some of my favorite images and I have prepared them in sepia to match the existing old-fashioned frames. This is the last of these images. I have also included a gallery with all fourteen pictures below. Enjoy them!
Number fourteen – The End :-): Thanda’s Dominant Male Lion
PS: If you stay at Thanda’s Villa iZulu in the suites number 2 or 3 you can view them in the original print.
© CHRISTIAN SPERKA PHOTOGRAPHY
I have selected fourteen images which are now hung in two of the suites at Thanda’s Villa iZulu. These are some of my favorite images and I have prepared them in sepia to match the existing old-fashioned frames. Over the next few days I would like to share these images with you.
Here is number six: Male Cheetah
PS: If you stay at Thanda’s Villa iZulu in the suites number 2 or 3 you can view them in the original print.
No words needed – simply beautiful!
These two male Cheetah were having a good look at the approaching Lions and then moved away very swiftly 🙂
As it happens during this time of the year strong winds frequently follow heavy rains. On our afternoon game drive we first encountered a beautiful rainbow over the Lebombo mountains, then we met with Thanda’s breeding herd of Elephants.
One of our largest bulls gave an excellent demonstration on “how to create a perfect road block”, right in front of the vehicle.
Last but not least Bheki – one of Thanda’s most experienced Zulu tracker – found the two Cheetah brothers on the open savannah. They were huddling together in the freezing wind.
Not a bad drive for a very windy day!
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 