lion – Page 33 – Christian Sperka Photography

2013-04-10

Growing fast!

I remember Thanda’s North Pride Lion cubs when they were not even four month old; small little cats with tiny teeth, small claws and a very playful nature.

Well, the only thing that is left is the playful nature 🙂

With almost one year of age they have quite formidable teeth and claws and they can play already very rough. They are still youngster, fully depended on mum and the pride to provide food, but they will start learning the hunting trade soon.

This one was keeping an eye on the Thanda guests on my vehicle while the rest of the pride was sleeping after a night’s hunt.

2013-03-09

Concentration!

This Lion cub was concentrating hard on the “toy-stick”. He got so upset with the branch that he even used his claws!

Have a good weekend and relax 🙂

2013-03-04

Not your best day!

Imagine you are a Lion!

You are feeding on a Zebra kill and you had already a lot to eat. So it is a bit hard to move with your full belly. And just as you feel ready for a snooze a herd of Buffalo is crashing the dinner site of your family. They chase all of you around a bit.

You climb a tree and find out that the tree you chose was not high enough.

You growl at the Buffalo and they get even more agitated than they already were.

At the right moment you jump out of the tree and you flee to the next tree.

There you wait until the annoying bulls and cows are gone.

Only then can you re-join your other eight family members (coming down from other trees) to continue the meal and the now well deserved snooze.

Not your best day!

A very special sighting at Thanda Private Game Reserve 🙂

2013-03-03

Heart Rate!

It is always an unexpected thrill when Lions pass within hands reach of the vehicle. All nine Lions of the Thanda North Pride were walking along the northern fence line when we had this beautiful encounter.

The Thanda guests on this morning game drive loved it, even if their heart rate was up a bit 🙂

Below is the Thanda North Pride “Organization Chart”!

2013-02-26

Outside the house!

When I lived in the USA and in Europe I used to see children playing outside my front door, I saw joggers on their morning runs and dog owners out on a stroll. Occasionally a car came by and if I was very lucky when I got to see a bird from time to time.

My front door view has changed 🙂

I regularly see Giraffe, Buffalo, Elephants, Rhinos and many different other species around the house. Today the Thanda North Pride of Lions walked by the garden fence.

I saw the young mother with her cubs and our juvenile male at the fence. The other four Lions were already resting under a Fever Tree near by.

What a place to live!

2013-02-13

A good scratch!

If you think that only members of the human race make funny faces when attending to a little itch then have a look at our dominant male Lion.

He was scratching his left front leg with his left back paw. Judging by his funny face the procedure was quite successful.

The Thanda guests on my vehicle enjoyed the moment 🙂

PS: We had to wait for a long time for him to get up. He was sleeping for a long time in the grass. He even collected some spider webs in the process!

2013-02-102013-02-10

Lion Twilight!

The sun was just setting when we found some of our South Pride Lions playing in a tree on top of a ridge. The Thanda guest on game drive enjoyed this most beautiful sighting until the light was gone completely and the Lions had left the tree and rested in the grass next to the road.

Have a good week!

2013-02-07

A good cleaning!

Mother and son in a lengthy morning cleaning session. Lions are the only gregarious cats. They really enjoy being close to each other 🙂

These two Lions are part of the Thanda South Pride.

2013-02-02

Mating sounds!

How about waking up in the middle of the night and hearing the sounds of mating Lions nearby?

When we met some of our guests for morning game drive they claimed that they heard the Lions all night. We drove up the hill in front of the lodge to investigate and found our dominant male and the oldest female of the South pride less than 100 meters from the Lodge.

The Thanda guest were most impressed how close they were all night to these formidable cats.

The picture shows the male Lion with the Thanda Luxury Lodge in the background. The female was hiding a few meters away in the bushes.

2013-01-26

Lions only!

This morning’s game drive was amazing. We left the Lodge with the intention to track a herd of Buffalo. But on the way out we decided to have another quick look at our dominate male Lion and the oldest female of the South Pride (“Grandma”), who we saw the previous evening on top of hill.

When we arrived there we met eight Lions – three Sub-Adults (“Uncles” and “Aunt”) and a young Lioness (“Mum” with her two – eight month old – cubs (“Boy” and “Girl”), the Thanda Dominate Male and “Grandma”. This was the complete South pride. Over the next three hours we observed family life and family drama.

“Mum” had kept away the cubs from the rest of the pride for a long time. It was clear after a few minutes that the Thanda Dominate Male had accepted these cubs as his own, but “Mum” would not allow any of the “Uncles” and the “Aunt” near the cubs. (Note: The cubs were fathered by a male that is no longer on Thanda).

Every time one of the “Uncles” approached “Mum” became very aggressive and the Thanda Dominate Male joined her in defense of the cubs. “Grandma” sided with the three sub-adults and was also quite aggressive towards her grand-kids.

We observed “Mum” fighting for her cubs, the cubs playing, the “Aunt” climbing a tree, one of the “Uncles” mating with the “Aunt” (when the big male was not watching), all of them growling a lot at each other and the “Uncles” and “Aunt” in an attempt to hunt for Impala.

The Thanda guests on my vehicle, Behki and I have seldom enjoyed a game drive more, even so we only drove a few hundred meters during the three hours 🙂

I hope you enjoy this picture documentary!

PS: I have a included a “family chart” to make it easier to understand the relationships.