What cat is that?

A short quiz for the cat lovers among you!

These are 16 pictures of 14 different cat species – what species are they?

Just cows? Not so much ….

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Sometimes safari guests think that a Cape Buffalo is just another type of cow. Far from it. These stocky herd animals can turn from fairly docile bovines into very dangerous opponents within seconds.

When threatened a herd will form a “battle array” with the large males up front, the younger males on the sides and the females and calves behind. In that formation they can even stand down a pride of Lions. For Humans on foot they can be one of the most dangerous encounters in the bush. There position as one of the Big Five is therefore fully justified.

This picture shows the Thanda Buffalo herd leaving a waterholes.

Picture by Christian Sperka – Specialist Photography Guide and Resident Wildlife Photographer – Thanda Private Game Reserve

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Operation Cheetah

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Today we changed the radio collar on our Cheetah mum so that the Wildlife Team can continue to monitor her progress – I was allowed to be hands – on for a moment – Thanks to Warren for taking the picture 🙂

And this is a collage of the operation – before – during – after

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Unpublished

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While browsing through some of my older images today I found this Leopard picture I took many years ago. It was never published. So here it is now.

Enjoy your weekend 🙂

Images only!

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I recently bought a new iPhone 5s – I was missing it  🙂 – and I also started to post images on Instagram.

If you use a smartphone and you like to see more of my images you can find me under christiansperkaphotography on Instagram.

Most of the images I post on Instagram will be different from the ones on my Blog, Facebook and Google+ and usually come with very little text :-).

Enjoy them!

PS: If you just want to look at the posted Instagram picture from time to time you can go to http://instagram.com/christiansperkaphotography on your computer.

PPS: All Instagram posts will also be shared on Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr – just in case you would like to follow me there!

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Ignore the car!

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Lions normally ignore game drive vehicles, especially when the encounter is on their terms. The Thanda dominant male was passing within touching distance of the vehicle, undisturbed by the humans within the car.

It was not necessary to tell any of the Thanda guests to sit very still and be quiet during this sighting, that was done quite naturally 🙂

What a morning!

Ready for my close-up!

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One of Thanda’s largest Elephant bulls was standing still for a few seconds – for his close-up pictures 🙂 – before he moved on down the hill. This gentle giant was trailing the breeding herd which had crossed the road in front of the vehicle on the way to a nearby waterhole. What an experience for the Thanda guests!

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On the rough roads again ……

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Hurray! The insurance company paid out yesterday and I got my new Toyota Fortuner today 🙂

After my incident with the cow (http://wp.me/P1rzfb-1js) my old car was written off and I drove a small rental VW Polo for the last month. The little car served me well but I could not go all places I wanted to go or needed to go.

That’s over now. I am back in a Fortuner and ready for the rough roads and the rain-season-weather ahead.

But NO cows please 🙂