View allAll Photos Tagged bigfive
African Lion (female). One of two cubs who were trailing the lionesses that were stalking a herd of Impala. Like her mother, she noticed us on a nearby bluff observing her.
More archive images from Botswana -all are newly processed from raw capture.
Use of this image on websites, blogs or any other media is only allowed with the explicit written permission of the photographer.
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© Cosmopolitan Photography | All rights reserved.
Do not use, copy or edit any of my images without my written permission.
MUSTH
A musth elephant, wild or domesticated, is extremely dangerous to humans. Musth (or, alternately spelled, must) is a periodic condition in bull elephants, characterized by a thick tar-like secretion called temporin from the temporal ducts on the sides of the head and, far more notably, by highly aggressive behaviour.
It is accompanied by a significant rise in reproductive hormones - testosterone levels in an elephant in musth can be as much as 60 times greater than in the same elephant at other times. However, whether this hormonal surge is the sole cause of musth, or merely a contributing factor, is unknown: scientific investigation of musth is greatly hindered by the fact that, once under the influence of musth, even the most otherwise placid of elephants may actively try to kill any and all humans.
Similarly, the tar-like secretion remains largely uncharacterised, due to the difficulties of collecting samples for analysis; however, secretions and urine collected from zoo elephants have been shown to contain elevated levels of various highly odorous ketones and aldehydes.
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MALA MALA
Mala Mala is the oldest and largest private game reserve in South Africa. One of the first areas of private land to switch from hunting to conservation, it is spread over 33,000 acres (13,500 hectares) of the Mpumalanga Lowveld. The property shares a 12 mile unfenced border with Kruger National Park and contains the longest stretch of the Sand River of any of the Sabi Sand resorts. Its varied habitats - riverine forest, acacia bushveld, and savannah - support a broad selection of wildlife, and provide excellent opportunities for spotting the Big 5 (Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion & Rhinoceros).
Upon checking in, your game ranger will greet you and accompany you throughout your stay. The rangers, selected for their knowledge of African plant, animal, and bird-life, oversee your personal service. They will be your guide for your twice daily, four-hour game drives, sit with you at meals and impart their knowledge of African wildlife with stories about the individual behavior of animals within the MalaMala reserve.
Game drives are conducted in an open safari vehicle, accompanied by a professional Shangaan tracker. Despite the refined attention to detail, you are immediately aware that you are in Africa and that the unexpected may happen. Breakdowns and stuck vehicles are a hazard of driving through donga and bush, but the staff handles this with aplomb. Radio contact, a large reserve, and excellent guides enhance the probability of seeing the big five. The camp also offers guided bush walks.
This leopard had been sleeping until another Land Cruiser showed up and startled this big cat. I grabbed a couple shots, just before the leopard climed to the top of the tree and slipped out of sight.
White Rhino at a watering hole. White and Black Rhino are both the same color. The names are misnomers. There are two species of rhinos. One species are grazers that eat grasses and ground plants. The other are browsers that eat leaves from trees and bushes. The grazers have a broad face with a wide mouth to take in as much grass as possible.The browsers have a narrow pointed face in order to reach between the branches of bushes to get to the leaves. The name given to the grazers, White Rhino, is actually a corruption of the Dutch word for "wide." To distinguish the two, the browser species became known as Black Rhinos.
African Elephant. Elephants at the Sabie River. The African elephant is one of "The Big Five," the five animals considered the most dangerous and difficult to hunt. The others are the Cape Buffalo, rhino, lion and leopard.
Hluhluwe, South Africa
© Cosmopolitan Tours & Photography | All rights reserved.
Do not use, copy or edit any of my images without my written permission.
This photo is number 13 in a sequence of 13 photos exhibiting the mating habits of lions. The photo depicts the universal attitude the of male and female at the end of copulation. May be this is why Sexual cannibalism occurs in which a female kills and consumes a male of the same species before, during, or after copulation.
Sri Lanka's Big Five - Blue Whale, Asian Elephant, Sperm Whale, Leopard and Sloth Bear.
Outside the continent of Africa, the tiny island of Sri Lanka is the next best for Big Game Safaris.
Jetwing Eco Holidays are the first Sri Lankan tour operator to run 'The Big Five Tour'. Visit www.jetwingeco.com and click on the 'tours' page for more information on the Sri Lanka Big Five Tour.