wildlife – Page 145 – Christian Sperka Photography

2013-05-15

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.

2013-05-14

Can you identify …

… the subject of this image?

What species and what part of the animal?

I am looking forward to the answers!

2013-05-13

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.

2013-05-04

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 🙂

2013-05-03

Ears!

I love the back-light ears on this little Baboon!

2013-05-032013-05-03

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!

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!

2013-04-27

Big Five in One Drive !

What a day – During today’s evening game drive we saw all the Big Five – Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo. The Thanda guests were delighted – and so was I 🙂

2013-04-25

ET?

It might look like something from a science fiction movie, but is a small insect, a Praying Mantis.

This specimen took a ride on my vehicle for over 20 minutes. The Thanda guests enjoyed taking pictures of this little “alien” 🙂

PS: If you are male Praying Mantis you live very dangerously – see below!

About Praying Mantis:

Mantodea (or mantises, mantes) is an order of insects that contains over 2,400 valid species in 15 families worldwide. The English common name for any species in the order is “Praying Mantis”, because of the typical “prayer-like” posture with folded fore-limbs.

Sexual cannibalism is common among mantises in captivity, and may also be observed in the field. The female may begin feeding by biting off the male’s head, and if mating has begun, the male’s movements may become even more vigorous in its delivery of sperm. The male engages the female in courtship dance, to change her interest from feeding to mating.

2013-04-23

Convinced!

I am convinced!

With all the input from many snake experts around the world I have changed the story 🙂

“When we were on the way to pick up our Thanda guests for the afternoon game drive we ran into these two Black Mambas. The two males were fighting for mating rights with a female in the midday sun on one of the main roads at Thanda. Both of them were so engaged in their actions that they were completely oblivious of us. What a sighting!”

For more images of this encounter go to https://christiansperka.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/mating-mambas/