One of the young Thanda Lionesses is really looking forward to the release of the new dominant male onto the reserve. She checks regularly if her “new man” is still in the boma.
Soon after the current dominant male will be moved to a new section of Thanda the new guy will be released onto the reserve. Changing dominant males on game reserves is very important to keep a healthy gene pool.
The young lady is ready for him 🙂
The new Thanda dominant male Lion!
Observing “nature at work” can be difficult at times. Last nights Lion sighting showed that human sentiments do not apply to animals.
We observed a Lioness, which had killed a Blue Wildebeest, first eating the unborn calf fetus before returning to the adult kill.
Shortly afterwards the Lioness was chased off the kill by Thanda’s dominant male Lion who took over the feast.
The first image above shows the Lioness when feeding. The second image shows the male after the take over.
I got some amazing footage from this very unusual sighting. The links below lead to four more images.
WARNING: Please do not click on the links below if you are disturbed by images of animals feeding on other animals.
Imagine you are a Baby Elephant …
“Well, today is a very windy and cold morning. We were all were pretty thirsty and moving towards a waterhole …
… when grandma spotted a Lion …
… We do not like them! …
Mummy started walking really fast, trumpeting and everything. Great! …
… I love a good chase and I ran as fast as I could – keeping up with mum. But we did not get him 😦
Grandma decided to turn back towards the water.
Maybe next time 🙂 “
This is a “record” of an exciting Elephant/Lion chase at Thanda Private Game Reserve, enjoyed by many Thanda guests on a very windy morning.
Thanda guests and Thanda Lions are enjoying the morning sun together!
Seeing these magnificent creatures makes a great start for the day.
When this young Lioness saw Thanda’s dominant male approaching she got very upset. She started growling in his direction and her four cubs ran for cover. She then prevented the male from following the cubs by blocking his way.
All of this happened under a beautiful morning sky with a colorful rainbow. What a sighting!
These young Lions were sitting still and watching their mother, aunts and older sister going off hunting.
The guest on my vehicle were very exited when the complete Thanda North Pride moved around the car towards their prey. The Lions just came from a meal – judging from their reddish fur – but they were looking for a second course. As long as we watched them they were not successful. Better luck the next time!
The face of Lions change completely if they are looking up at the sky and follow birds.
One of the Thanda guests on my vehicle suggested that this Lioness must really love birds – I am sure she does 🙂
When this Lion mum was watching a few approaching Zebras she was “frozen” whenever the Zebras looked in her direction. Her daughter imitated mum and was very still as well. Her brother on the other hand was moving around behind them and alarmed the Zebras. Boys will be boys – No dinner this time!
The Thanda guests on my vehicle enjoyed this display of experience and youth!
“Well, you probably have seen many pictures of me since last year.
Since this funny German photographer arrived here at Thanda we have had to pose constantly for pictures. But this way all of you Thanda fans got to see me, my brother and my two sisters growing up. Don’t I look like a big Lion now?
Christian – that’s the photo guys name – took his shot this week when I and my family were relaxing after a really big meal. Mom and grandma could hardly move and my cousin did not stir for hours. What a day!”
A blog message from a lion’s point of view 🙂
Today the Thanda north pride of Lions only missed some Zebras by a few meters.
They demonstrated perfect Lion hunting tactics to the Thanda guests when two adult females all the sudden disappeared into the thick bush. A few minutes later they drove the Zebras into the road where another Lioness was ready for the fatal attack.
But, this time the Zebras got away and the Lions had to keep hunting!
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 