Male Giraffes are often sparring (a “not serious” fight for training).
Today we watched two bulls fighting for real. The impact of the skull (ossicones) onto the opponents body sounded very painful.
One week old!
Today I saw our newborn Elephant calf for the first time (born last week). It was difficult to get any pictures of the little one, because the cows surrounded it at all times.
Many “Firsts”!
In the last few days I had quite a few “first” Thanda sightings.
First I go to see our new Female Cheetah, then a Black Rhino and the four new Lion cubs.
Today we saw Spotted Hyenas at daylight and in the evening a male Leopard just when it go dark.
Five “firsts” in a short time 🙂
For the first time!
Today I saw the new Lion cubs of the Thanda North Pride for the first time.
The first-time-mom allowed us a few minutes of looking at the four cubs before she led them into thick bush.
Fight or Flight?
Last night I had my first Black Rhino sighting on Thanda. Bheki, my tracker, spotted this beautiful animal thirty meters from the road. For a few seconds one could almost see a pendulum swinging in its brain “fight or flight … fight or flight …”. It selected flight and moved away fast into the bush. A very brief, but very special sighting.
On the same game drive we saw a male Lion, a female Cheetah and a Black-bellied Bustard. It was the last game drive for the guests on my vehicle – What a send-off 🙂
More about Black Rhinos:
The Black Rhinoceros or Hook-lipped Rhinoceros, is a species of rhinoceros, native to Africa. An adult Black Rhino stands 132–180 cm (52–71 in) high at the shoulder and typically weighs from 800 to 1,400 kg (1,800 to 3,100 lb), however unusually large male specimens have been reported at up to 2,896 kg (6,380 lb). The females are smaller than the males. Two horns on the skull are made of keratin. These horns are used for defense, intimidation, and digging up roots and breaking branches during feeding. Black Rhinos have poor eyesight, relying more on hearing and smell.
They are poached for their horns and are now classified as critically endangered.
Small Excitement!
The small male Elephant in the picture got a bit excited when he joined in a mud bath with his elders. He knew all the moves to intimate us and the other bulls, he just did not have the size yet :-).
Brothers!
These two Cheetah brothers have a strong bond since many years. Unlike female Cheetah, who are always solitary, Cheetah males often form coalitions. Being able to groom one another is one of the advantages of such a relationship.
Let’s play, Bro!
This young juvenile Lioness is playing rough with her brother. I “found” this picture when I was organizing my pictures which I took before the rains. I like the action.
We have two Lion prides on Thanda. One in the North of the reserve and one in the South.
Have a good week!
Dogs and Neighbors!
Our African Wild Dogs decided recently to slip through the fence of the reserve and take a “vacation” on a neighboring farm. The owner is not very happy about his visitors – not surprising as the six adult and nine puppy dogs eat a lot of meat!
We are currently capturing the dogs and bringing them back to Thanda. They will be kept in a boma until the fence has been fixed.
The first picture shows the dogs in the twilight on the neighbor’s land.
The second picture is of one of the cubs. It squeezed through the boma fence and took a little day trip across the savanna – but never going far from the boma with the adults in it.
And then the sky opened!
I do not know that my Land Rover Driving course experience would come in useful so soon. Today the sky opened up during game drive and within minutes hard rain converted some of our roads into streams. We were in an area with predominately clay based soils far away from the lodge. With a lot of momentum and the superb bad-road-condition-capabilities of the Land Rover Defender I got us home safely. We were all wet to the skin 🙂 The four children on the vehicle thought that the drive was a great adventure.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is for 100% rain. Another hectic driving day coming up!
I got no pictures from the drive (I was busy negotiating soapy roads!), so I thought you would enjoy the picture of these two Eagles I took earlier this morning. The first is of a Tawny Eagle and the second is a Wahlberg’s Eagle.
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 