Thanda’s dominant male Lion gave us “a good look” when we spotted him on the way to the lodge after bush dinner.
The guests on my vehicle were very impressed with the beautiful cat at moon light.
And the answer is …
… the Jacobson’s organ inside the mouth of an African Elephant.
This was a really tough one!
More about the Jacobson’s organ:
The Jacobson’s organ or vomeronasal organ is an auxiliary sense of smell organ that is found in many animals. This organ is the sense organ involved in the flehmen response in mammals. The Jacobson’s organ is mainly used to detect pheromones, chemical messengers that carry information between individuals of the same species. Its presence in many animals has been widely studied and its importance for reproduction and for social behavior has been shown in many studies.
Its presence and functionality in humans is controversial, though most studies agree the organ regresses during fetal development. Elephants transfer chemo-sensory stimuli to the Jacobson’s organ in the roof of their mouths using their “fingers”, at the tips of their trunks.
Can you identify …
… the subject of this image?
What species and what part of the animal?
I am looking forward to the answers!
Wet, Dirty and Sharp!
These were the three adjectives that came to my mind when I saw this young male Lion displaying his sharp claws. He was very wet and very dirty when we encountered the Thanda North Pride on our morning game drive.
Sky over Thanda
On today’s Thanda Game Drive we encountered this Giraffe on a hill top under a beautiful sky.
Have a good week!
I want that stick!
Dedication is everything. One of Thanda’s youngest Lion was jumping over his uncle to get to his brother and retrieve the small wooden stick that had been taken from him just a few seconds ago. Their sister was watching for a few moments before joining the game.
Romeo and Juliet
The guests on my vehicle thought it was a bit like Romeo and Juliet, the Montgues and the Capulets.
One of our Lionesses had split away from the pride and was obviously looking for a mate. But the perfectly good dominant male Lion provided by the Thanda management was not of her choosing!
She had an eye on one of the male Lions on the neighboring property. After she roared for a while he came to the fence and then walked up and down with her for a while.
But, as in the Shakespeare play, “a happy end” was not possible and after a while both of them went their own way.
Our Lioness re-joined her own pride the next day and looked again content in her familiar surroundings. And … as we have a lot of Lions already … it was a good thing that she did not mate at this stage!
A good stretch!
If one gets up at 6:30 in the morning a good stretch is in order.
Well, the dominant male Lion on Thanda Private Game Reserve thought so, too.
Before he started for his morning walk he got himself aligned for the day 🙂
Ears!
I love the back-light ears on this little Baboon!
Pride Rock
Thanda’s Lions have their own pride rock 🙂
In the late afternoon two Thanda North Pride youngsters were overlooking the northern part of Thanda with the Lebombo Mountains in the background.
We often stop at this beautiful spot with our guests for a drink stop at dusk. Needless to say on this day we went to an alternate location 🙂
Have a good weekend!
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 