rhino – Page 11 – Christian Sperka Photography

2013-11-08

In front of the camera :-)

Photographers seldom end up on pictures. Well, there are not very many pictures with me in them, especially not during interesting wildlife operations.

But at this Rhino darting operation one of the subjects of my pictures (it was actually Kingsley Holgate, a well known South African explorer, humanitarian and author – who was present during the operation) took the camera away from me and shot this image. Thanks!

And then a member of the wildlife team took this image with all the guides, trackers, game guards and the Rhino boy involved in this procedure.

So, two picture with me in it in one day – must be a record 🙂

2013-09-22

World Rhino Day!

Today is Wold Rhino Day – This is a chance to raise awareness and support for these prehistoric creatures. Over 600 rhinos have been killed this year in South Africa alone, that is more than 2 each day!

The Thanda Foundation is a founding member of Project Rhino Kwazulu Natal, an organization dedicated to the fight for Rhino survival.

Please show your support by sharing this message and/or by actively supporting Project Rhino (http://www.projectrhinokzn.org). Thank you!

Picture by Christian Sperka – Specialist Photography Guide and Resident Wildlife Photographer – Thanda Private Game Reserve

2013-09-17

Fight for Rhinos

Africa has lost more than 100,000 Rhinos in the past 45 years – Over 2,000 Rhinos have been killed by poachers in South Africa since 2008 – Over 600 this year alone.

The Thanda Foundation is a founding member of Project Rhino Kwazulu Natal, an organization dedicated to the fight for Rhino survival.

Show your support during this official Rhino Week by sharing this message and/or by actively supporting Project Rhino (http://www.projectrhinokzn.org). Thank you!

Today’s Rhino Image: A crash of Square-lipped Rhinoceros (White Rhino) is crossing a road on Thanda.

2013-09-11

Working together …

To help and protect Rhinos and other species on the reserve, Thanda Private Game Reserve is working together with WILDCON Safaris and Events – www.wildconevents.co.za.

WILDCON provides the funding for conservation events. In this darting operation a young male Square-lidded Rhinoceros is being marked for identification, DNA sample are being collected and a complete health check is performed.

WILDCON’s clients actively participate in such operations and become an active part of wildlife conservation. Their involvement makes these operations possible.

If you are interested to participate in a Thanda Conservation Event contact wildlife@thanda.com.

2013-09-02

Evening Drinks!

This afternoon we followed a few of Thanda’s White Rhino on there way to a waterhole. The guest on my vehicles enjoyed watching these large creatures “filling up” before they went back to grassing on the savanna. This was a perfect ending for a game drive that started with rutting Impalas and a pride of Lions at another waterhole.

2013-08-21

Rhino Communication Center

If you think that this White Rhino bull is just scraping his dung around you are mistaken. He is actually adding important information to this Rhino Communication Center, called a Midden. The same location is used by many Rhinos to place their dung and with it to place information.

A dominant bull will mark his territory and he will scrape the dung to show his dominance.

Females in the area by will leave their droppings, but they will not scrape. They leave a scent message for the dominant bull in case they are ready to mate. If that is the case he will pick up the info at his next visit and look for the lady.

Any young bull pathing through the territory will also leave his message (a distance away from the big guys’s stuff) without scraping to tell the dominant bull that he does not want to challenge him.

If another bull puts his dung on top or near the dominant bull’s droppings and scrapes them around then he declares his intention to challenge the territory holder. As soon as they meet they will fight!

So, if you see dung in the bush, it is not always just waste 🙂

2013-08-12

Lions and Wine!

With two guest from Germany – staying for 12 nights at Thanda – we planned some game drives in rather remote areas of the reserve. When we drove in a very hilly area we spotted a Black Rhino moving fast across the opposite site of a valley.

When we went off road down a slope to follow up we spotted one of Thanda’s pride of Lions lounging on the other side. We decided to lounge as well and my guests had some wine and snacks while watching the Lions. The Black Rhino had disappeared by this time into a very thick area – as they usually do. A very special game drive. Lions at sunset with a glass of red in your hands!

2013-07-30

One more way to fight …

Fight Rhino Poaching from the Air!

ZAP-Wing is a partnership between the provincial conservation agency Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Project Rhino KZN. 24 game reserves (300,000ha) in northern KwaZulu-Natal currently benefit from daily aerial surveillance and reaction support; over 3,000 rhino are under the ZAP-Wing watch.

Thanda supports the organization and the reserve is covered by the ZAP-Wing.

Watch the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YY883N2d-Og),
check out the website (www.zapwing.org),
and support the fight for Rhinos!

2013-05-18

I am big and you better watch it!

This small male White Rhino calf put us in our place!

He came right up to the vehicle (which was standing below his level) and showed us his “big” horn, jumped up and down and snorted a bit. When we did not react he retreated quickly back to mum. She was undisturbed by his “manly behavior”.

They were grazing in a beautiful area surrounded by trees. A fabulous sighting for my guests.

2013-04-302013-04-30

Rare Sightings!

Sorry for not blogging for a few days. I was very busy guiding and teaching photography. Now I am off work for seven days 🙂

So, I thought I share a few recent and very Thanda special sightings with you.

We spotted a small Serval on the fence to our base camp. This was my first Serval sighting at Thanda …

… our dominant male Lion got quite a fright when he almost stepped on this Puff Adder in the dark. The snake gave him a warning hiss and continued on its path …

.. and another first for me was a Secretary Bird hunting on our savanna …

… and last but not least two of my favorite Rhino images from the last two weeks. A Rhino illuminated with red light walking at moonlight and …

… a Rhino having a mud bath – pure bliss!