elephant – Page 12 – Christian Sperka Photography

2020-01-12

PICTURE OF THE WEEK – ELEPHANTS AND THE ROLLING HILLS OF ZULULAND

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!

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

2020-01-10

MAMMAL FRIDAY – BABY ELEPHANT

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!

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

2019-12-27

MAMMAL FRIDAY – ELEPHANTS

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!

#christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

2019-12-22

VIDEO OF THE WEEK – ELEPHANTS

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!

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

2019-03-10

ELEPHANT WEEK

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.

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography

http://www.sperka.com

2018-02-242018-02-24

He hates ducks …

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 …

What a sight – the Thanda House Dam is full!

The Thanda House Dam and Thanda House – I can see the water from my office window!

After the recent rains the Thanda House dam is full. The Elephants love this deep water hole for bathing and drinking.

A bath, a drink, a mud-bath and a good dusting with sand!

The reason for the loud trumpeting – Whistling White-faced Ducks

www.sperka.info | www.sperka.biz | www.thanda.com

THE GREEN MAMBA 1 | EXCLUSIVELY AT THANDA SAFARI

2017-03-08

Elephants and Clouds

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!

2016-12-04

Girl!

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!

compare

2016-12-022016-12-02

Boy or Girl?

How does one identify if an Elephant is male or female by just looking at its head?

2016-09-02

What a week!

Last weekend I was very busy in the office and teaching photography at Thanda. On Monday I went to Pongola to get my car serviced and for a short visit to Pakamisa. On Tuesday and Wednesday I ran errands in Durban where a met a very cute puppy dog. Yesterday and today I played again catch-up in the office.

But, I still got a bit of photography done. At Pakamisa I took some pictures of Isabella working with one of her horses and at the Thanda House Waterhole (next to my home) I got some good pictures of Elephants, of Giraffes and of a young Lioness. I also shot some good-bye pictures of our young male Lion, who will leave the reserve soon for a new home. And in between I posted one of my favorite Leopard shots (taken in 2006) on Facebook.

So, here is my week in pictures. Enjoy them and the weekend 🙂

PS: As a bonus I added a short Thanda Elephants video – four times the regular speed!