African Bush Magic (post 1, comment 2)
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For an overview of the circumstances when taking this shot and info on the lions behaviour see my last shot in the series here:
www.flickr.com/photos/rbaptista/50985104567/in/dateposted/
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Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
© All rights reserved Rui Baptista. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
After having had their lunch, one lion and one lioness stand in guard while the rest of the pride rests on the shade, unseen. From the top of the boulder the “guards” are on a privileged position to defend their territory and to identify potential “candidates” for a joyful dinnertime. They certainly seemed to be resting and enjoying life!
Lions (“Panthera leo”) sleep for 16 to 20 hours a day. They most often hunt at dawn or dusk, but can adapt to their prey to change their schedule.
The lion is the most social of all wild felid species and a lion pride consists on average of 15 lions, comprising a few adult males, related females and cubs. Females form the stable social unit in a pride and do not tolerate outside females. Membership changes only with the births and deaths of lionesses.
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Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
© All rights reserved Rui Baptista. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
The southern white rhinoceros or southern square-lipped (Ceratotherium simum simum) is one of the two subspecies of the white rhinoceros (the other being the much rarer northern white rhinoceros). It is listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to the IUCN, this subspecies was on the brink of extinction by the end of the 19th century - having been reduced to just one small population of approximately 20-50 animals in South Africa. However, in one of the most successful collective conservation efforts of the century, there are now thriving populations in east and southern Africa – totalling over 20,000 animals.
Ol Pejeta conservancy is 90000 acres of open savannah grassland, and has the richest diversity of wildlife in kenya outside of the Maasai Mara.
www.olpejetaconservancy.org/wildlife/rhinos/southern-whit...
big male Lion in his prime, photographed in the wild in South Africa
Panthera leo
Nikon Z9 400mm f/4.5
Many thanks for your views, favorites and supportive comments.
All rights reserved.
Fons Buts©2025
My photos may not be used on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written and explicit permission.
no better way to enjoy the last light than in the midst of a relaxed small breeding herd.
There were about 12 Elephants of which 3 were small calfs and ours was the only vehicle in the area
Mara North Conservancy, Kenya
Many thanks for your views, favorites and supportive comments.
All rights reserved.
Fons Buts©2025
My photos may not be used on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written and explicit permission.
The repertoire of vocalisations of the Lion is large; rather than discrete signals, variations in intensity and pitch appear to be central to communication. Most lion vocalisations are variations of growling, snarling, miaowing and roaring. Other sounds produced include purring, puffing, bleating and humming.
Lions tend to roar in a very characteristic manner starting with a few deep, long roars that subside into a series of shorter ones. They most often roar at night; the sound, which can be heard from a distance of 8 kilometres (5.0 mi), is used to advertise the animal's presence
The African buffalo or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a large sub-Saharan African bovine. Syncerus caffer caffer, the Cape buffalo, is the typical subspecies, and the largest one, found in Southern and East Africa. One of the "big five" African game, it is known as "the Black Death" or "the widowmaker", and is widely regarded as a very dangerous animal. According to some estimates, it gores, tramples and kills over 200 people every year.
The African buffalo is not an ancestor of domestic cattle and is only distantly related to other larger bovines. Its unpredictable temperament may have been part of the reason that the African buffalo has never been domesticated, unlike its Asian counterpart, the water buffalo. African buffaloes have few non-human predators aside from lions and large crocodiles. As a member of the big five game, the Cape buffalo is a sought-after trophy in hunting.
Oxpeckers are endemic to the savanna of Sub-Saharan Africa. Their names come from their habit of perching on large mammals and eating ticks, botfly larvae, and other parasites. They feed exclusively on the backs of large mammals. Certain species seem preferred, whereas others, like the Lichtenstein's hartebeest or topi are generally avoided. The smallest regularly used species is the impala, probably because of the heavy tick load and social nature of that species. In many parts of their range they now feed on cattle, but avoid camels. They feed on ectoparasites, particularly ticks, as well as insects infecting wounds and the flesh and blood of some wounds as well.
Oxpecker/mammal interactions are the subject of some debate and ongoing research. They were originally thought to be an example of mutualism, but recent evidence suggests that oxpeckers may be parasites instead. Oxpeckers do eat ticks, but often the ticks that have already fed on the ungulate host and there has been no proven statistically significant link between oxpecker presence and reduced ectoparasite load. However one study of impalas found that impalas which were used by oxpeckers spent less time grooming themselves suggesting they had fewer parasites. Oxpeckers have been seen opening new wounds and worsening existing ones in order to drink the blood of their perches. Oxpeckers also feed on the earwax and dandruffs of mammals, although less is known about the benefits of this to the mammal, it is suspected that this is also a parasitic behaviour. Some oxpecker hosts are intolerant of their presence. Elephants and some antelope will actively dislodge the oxpeckers when they land. Other species tolerate oxpeckers while they search for ticks on the face, what one author described as "appear[ing] ... to be an uncomfortable and invasive process."
A wonderful lion from the South Pride at Kwandwe on a late afternoon as he sits and watches the world go by. What a sight it was to see
Seen in Samburu National Park, Kenya
The females in the pride tend to do the majority of the hunting. They work as a group and use intelligent hunting tactics to catch prey which they would not be able to catch alone as they are faster than them.
Léopard (Panthera pardus, leopard) dans un arbre mangeant une femelle nyala. Et apparemment, ça a l'air bon 😋
Phinda Private Game Reserve, Kwazulu-Natal, Afrique du Sud 🇿🇦
PUBLISHED:
journal.com.ph/earths-gentle-giants-at-extinctions-edge-w...
zpe.gov.pl/a/przeczytaj/DNoxlybrO
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The African Bush Elephant is the largest known land mammal on Earth, with male African Bush Elephants reaching up to 3.5 metres in height and the females being slightly smaller at around 3 metres tall. The body of the African Bush Elephants can also grow to between 6 and 7 meters long. The tusks of an African Bush Elephant can be nearly 2.5 meters in length and generally weigh between 50 and 100 pounds, which is about the same as a small adult Human. African Bush Elephants have four molar teeth each weighing about 5.0 kg and measuring about 12 inches long. As the front pair of molars in the mouth of the African Bush Elephant wear down and drop out in pieces, the back pair shift forward and two new molars emerge in the back of the African Bush Elephant's mouth. African Bush Elephants replace their teeth six times during their lives but when the African Bush Elephant is between 40 to 60 years old, it no longer has teeth and will likely die of starvation, which is sadly a common cause of death of Elephants in the African wilderness.
Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve, is in Kajiado County, Kenya. The park is 39,206 hectares (392 km2; 151 sq mi) in size at the core of an 8,000 square kilometres (3,100 sq mi) ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The local people are mainly Maasai, but people from other parts of the country have settled there attracted by the successful tourist-driven economy and intensive agriculture along the system of swamps that makes this low-rainfall area (average 350 mm (14 in)) one of the best wildlife-viewing experiences in the world with 400 species of birds including water birds, pelicans, kingfishers, crakes, hammerkops and 47 types of raptor. The park protects two of the five main swamps, and includes a dried-up Pleistocene lake and semi-arid vegetation.
240 kilometers (150 miles) southeast from the capital city Nairobi, Amboseli National Park is the second most popular national park in Kenya after Maasai Mara National Reserve.
The park is famous for being the best place in the world to get close to free-ranging elephants. The park also offers spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world.