Tag: lion

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A Lucky Friday, the 13th!

What a day!

At the end of our morning game drive we encountered a Lioness stalking a group of Zebra and Wildebeest.

I positioned the vehicle to the left of the lioness half-way between her and her prey. She singled out the Zebra that had gotten very close to her. The Zebra saw her just before she was able to start her run.

She almost got the Zebra, but in the end she had to give up and the Zebra got away.

Have a look at her face – Pure Focus!

And on the way home a few lions were very close to the road in the high grass. When we drove by (without knowing that they were there) they gave the car a short chase. This was very exciting for my passengers 🙂

For the Zebra it was a lucky Friday, the 13th, and it was for us seeing this scene!

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Battle at Thanda

If you ever have seen the YouTube video “Battle at Kruger” here are images of a similar scenario at Thanda Private Game Reserve.

The actors in the drama were a herd of Buffalo, a Buffalo calf, a male Lion and an Elephant bull.

CAUTION: PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL DOWN AND READ FURTHER IF YOU ARE DISTURBED BY WILD ANIMAL INTERACTION PICTURES!

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THIS ENCOUNTER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOEe5QeiKuU

It all started with the herd of Buffalo drinking at a waterhole. A young Buffalo calf had an injury above its left front leg which seem to have resulted in an infection. The calf could no longer follow the herd when they were ready to leave the waterhole.

Its cries for help attracted a male Lion who came to investigate. When he attacked the calf the Buffalo herd returned to the waterhole to defend the calf. The lion ran off.

The herd tried to leave again, but the calf – now also injured from the lion attack – could not follow. The Lion moved in again without actually making contact with the calf. This is my first picture as I arrived on the scene at this stage – the Assistant Wildlife Manager – Mariana – was already on the scene.

The herd drove the Lion off again.

And now an bull Elephant arrived at the waterhole to have a drink. He first ignored the calf now lying on the ground. At this stage I had to leave, so the following pictures are thanks to Mariana, who continued operating my camera in my absence (Excellent job – thanks!)

The lion tried to move in again, but the Elephant now drove him off. The Buffalo returned and guarded the calf for a while with the Elephant watching.

Only after all Buffalos and the Elephant had left the scene did the Lion return. He then carried away the carcass into thick bush.

The most amazing thing for me was that the small calf faced the lion and did not try to run away – a true Buffalo!

Below is a picture of the calf with its mother, which I took four days ago. At that stage the wound was visible, but the calf was still fully mobile.

A bit sad, but this is nature at work!

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No more!

thought a nice title for this picture would be “No more”.

It appears that this young male Lion was hiding his eyes from the world, when in fact he was flicking away some flies from his nose.

I also caught this beautiful Giraffe pose in front of the setting sun.

Have a good week!

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Lion Chase!

Today we had a very interesting Lion sighting. The picture above suggests that this beautiful male Lion was chasing one of our Land Rovers.

He was not!

He was following three other male Lions on a neighbouring reserve up and down the fence. A lot of growling and snarling made for a very impressive “show” for our photography volunteers.

Enjoy the pictures!

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Lion Yoga

What a day!

I drove for almost ten hours today and I had some amazing sightings (while I am still learning the roads – I am getting better – I now know where I am lost :-).

I saw the Thanda North Pride and the South Pride on the same day (A total of 12 lions!). One of the females Lionesses from the South Pride even performed some Yoga 🙂

Three cubs were watching me carefully and a young lion did not change his course at all and walked within inches/centimeters of my Land Rover.

And for the birders among you I caught some great images of a Little Bee-Eater flying and eating bees.

There were many more sightings, but unfortunately I cannot post all pictures today – I save them for future days without good pictures!

Enjoy the pictures!

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A Lion’s Roar

This morning I woke up to the sound a lion roaring. When I left for Richards Bay I heard him very clearly east of Thanda House.

I am not sure if it was the male that I saw yesterday afternoon while I was driving through the reserve (picture below). It might have been him 🙂

Have a good day!

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Vulture, Lions and Wildebeest

Today’s blog message is about three different sightings.

First I got a very good image of a White-baked Vulture in flight.

Below are two pictures of the Thanda North Pride (Mum, her two daughters and her son) and the young male in a tree.

And last but not least a herd of Blue Wildebeest in the evening sun.

Enjoy today’s pictures!

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Dreaming of Cattle :-)

When I was driving on the reserve today I saw my first lion since I started working at Thanda. The young lioness was sleeping on top of an old cattle loading station. I thought she was dreaming of cattle 🙂

I also got a beautiful shot of a Brown-hooded Kingfisher. (see below)

Enjoy the pictures!

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Thanda 2012 Gallery

Quite a few of you have asked me if all the pictures I am publishing on my blog are available for purchase. The answer is yes. I have created a new gallery on my website: Thanda 2012 – Direct link: http://www.sperka.biz/thanda

It may sometimes take a few day (after the blog has been published), before the images will appear on the gallery.

If you live in the USA or in Europe you can order prints and other products directly online. They will be produced locally and sent directly to you (So you do not have to pay shipping cost from South Africa :-))

Next to the new Thanda 2012 gallery there are thousands of other animal images available on my site – http://www.sperka.biz

Feel free to contact me if you cannot find your favorite image or a specific species and I will make it available to you.

PS: Today I was again in Richards Bay and I did not take any animal pictures, so I have uploaded a picture I took last year  in July on Thanda (Two young male Lions). Enjoy the image!

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Picture of the Week 11 – My Favorite Lion

[View all Pictures of the Week 2012]

Between 2002 and 2008 I have taken hundreds of pictures of this beautiful male Lion. He was the dominant male of the Phinda North Pride for many years and whenever I think about Lions I first think about him.

Together with my friend and field guide Mike Karantonis I spent many days and sometimes part of the nights watching him grow older and stronger. In 2009 a coaltion of three younger males replaced him as the dominant  male of the pride.

I took this picture in December 2006 in the streaming rain (see also the second picture taken at the same time) in front of my room at Phinda’s Vlei Lodge.

About male Lions:

Male lions are not lazy. They have a very tough life. Only one out of ten males makes it to full maturity. Once their father has evicted them, they have to fight other male Lions for a few years. The very few that get not killed in this harsh selection process may become the dominant male of a pride after they successfully drive away or kill the previous “boss”.

Male Lions do usually not participate in hunts because they are very visible with their large mane and would make it much easier for the prey to “get wind” of the hunt. They also have to preserve their strength and avoid to get insured in a hunt, because they have to defend their pride towards other males and prides. It is in the interest of the whole pride that they are capable of doing so, because if another male manages to take over, the first thing he will do is to kill all the young lions of the pride (up to two years old). For the same reason it makes sense that male Lions eat first and plenty at each kill to make sure that they stay strong for any upcoming fights.

Picture Data:

Picture 1: Camera: Canon 1D MII / Lens: Canon L 2.8 300mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/400s / Aperture: f/2.8 / ISO: 800 / Exposure Correction -0.33eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: manual K6500 / Time: early morning / Freehand

Picture 2: Camera: Canon 1D MII / Lens: Canon L 28-300mm at 78mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/100s / Aperture: f/4.5 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction -0.33eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: manual K6500 / Time: early morning / Freehand

For more Lion pictures got to
www.sperka.biz/lion (for African Lion)
www.sperka.biz/lion2 (for African Lion in zoos)
www.sperka.biz/lion3 (for Asiatic Lion)

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