“I will be big soon and then you will be afraid of me, just wait …”
This little African Elephant calf displayed all the signs of intimidation to scare me away and got very frustrated when I would not move.
At the encounter on Friday evening the baby’s mum was very calm and looked rather amused on her offsprings behavior 😊
Have a good week!
Check out the video from this sighting at https://youtu.be/hivicSRuHEk
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This impressive African Elephant bull followed a breeding herd away from a local waterhole.
In the background is the Intibane Lodge, the home of Ulwazi Research, which is Thanda Safari’s Volunteer Program.
In case you are interested in volunteering: https://www.ulwaziresearch.com
Enjoy your week!
… and as a bonus picture the family group he followed …
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uMkhanyakude is the name of the northernmost district in KwaZulu-Natal.
Thanda Safari – where I live and work – is located on the eastern border of this very rural district. It contains many areas of outstanding natural beauty such as the St Lucia greater wetland park, Hluhluwe-Umfolozi, Tembe Elephant Park and – of course – Thanda.
The picture shows a herd of African Elephants moving thru the rolling hills of the district.
Have a good week!
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A newborn African Elephant weighs about 90kg / 200lbs and is about 1m / 3″ tall.
At first, Baby Elephants don’t really know what to do with their long noses, sometimes they even step on them.
They will suck their trunks just as human babies will suck their thumbs.
Have a good weekend!
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On Christmas Day morning I enjoyed the sights and sounds of a herd of African Elephants around a Thanda Safari House waterhole.
I thought you might like this short video.
Enjoy the last weekend of 2019!
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Midday on Friday a herd of African Elephants rushed past my home to get to the waterhole nearby. I followed them and was treated to a bit of entertainment.
Both Thanda herds met around the water on this very hot summer day. And as usual when two herds join it resulted in quite a bit of harmless chasing and trumpeting. What a show!
I thought you might like this short iPhone video collage.
Enjoy your Sunday and the upcoming Christmas week!
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I am featuring a species per week on my social media channels. Here is a summary of the last week’s posts (and some blog bonus images). I hope you enjoy some of my favorite Elephant pictures :-).
Sand bath …
All pictures were taken at various locations in South Africa.
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As I was preparing the Green Mamba 1 (my special luxury & photography game drive vehicle – http://www.sperka.info/gm) I heard loud trumpeting from the Thanda House waterhole. I grabbed a camera, jumped into the vehicle and drove to the dam.
A young Elephant bull was busy chasing a bunch of Whistling White-faced Ducks around. He trumpeted very loudly whenever ducks got in his way. He obviously hates ducks! What a show …
After the recent rains the Thanda House dam is full. The Elephants love this deep water hole for bathing and drinking.
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This week we had some amazing sunsets. I really enjoyed this particular evening as I was watching a few Elephant bulls in front of Thanda House. They grazed around the house for over an hour. As I was watching them the most amazing cloud formations passed by. I captured them with my iPhone 7 Plus. Enjoy these African skies!
Well the correct answer is that adult female Elephants have more angular foreheads than adult males. The young female in my last post shows this feature unusually clear for her age 🙂 – see https://sperka.info/2016/12/02/boy-or-girl/
Today’s picture shows an young adult male and a female. Observe the difference!
Have a good start into the new week!
