Lions : Brutal or amazing ?

Watching lions kill something are for many people where they draw the line. Yes they are very brutal but if they are not brutal they wont survive. Just witnessing the pure brute and power they exert are mind blowing. Have you ever seen wildebeest and zebra run at full speed ? Now lions are capable of stopping them dead in their tracks by literally tackling them with either breaking their necks or suffocating them. Watching a lion kill can be very intense and it is a great privilege to witness the whole event unfold in front of you. To be honest it happens so quickly that you don't have time to pick your camera up, especially if you don't expect it.

You have to ask yourself are they brutal or amazing ?

This specific morning we were tracking this pride for quite sometime. We arrived at Tau dam and found the youngsters alone in the centre of the dam. We knew then the mothers were hunting. We sat with them for about 10 min. when we heard the contact calling of the lionesses. We followed the cubs directly to where one female was busy killing the wildebeest. She just finished to suffocate the animal when we arrived there..

They were all a bit weary with us around but settled down quickly. The youngsters tried to start feeding but without the help of mom they were a bit lost. Their teeth are not well developed yet to open tough skin like this. Normally the females will open the stomach area and the cubs can start feeding. They start eating meat from about 2 months old, although they suckle to about 6 months.

Here the cub follows moms example by eating the stomach contents first. There are loads of trace elements and minerals in these contents.

As you can see even mom can get irritated by the youngsters.. They all just want to get in there as soon as possible and start eating. This is where they will learn their place in the pride, mom will only talk once after that one warning their will be consequences.

This behaviour is very important because when the pride males are around they wont take any nonsense. When it comes to food the big guys normally gets eating rights. I have seen where the whole pride including the big males feast together, so it's not a fact that males always eat alone.

The female on the left was the one that killed the wildebeest. She only just joined in after she's gotten her breath back. The amount of energy a lion exerts on a kill is really tiring. It takes a while for her to get her breath back.

Normally when lions make a kill they open the stomach area and eat the organs and stomach lining first. They discard of the contents and normally cover it with grass to hide the scent from scavengers like hyenas and other lions.

After they are finished with this they will start eating the carcass inside out. It is easier to get to the meat from the inside. They all know not to waste to much time because the risk of scavengers and other lions taking their meal are great. Later that evening the pride males joined in and finished of what was left.

Last night we witnessed these two lionesses killing another wildebeest. They are really great providers for their pride. I know it looks like we only see lions......but you can't argue they are great subjects to photograph :)

Hope you enjoyed the reality of what happens out there !!

Check back soon again

Grant

Something about everything

Canon 50D with Sigma 70-200 f2.8

This was taken Yesterday at Thlou dam In Madikwe. The two rhino were litteraly sleeping in the mud as we drove up. Then the one female got up and approached the vehicle in a very curious manner. Great opportunity for some close-ups. I decided to layer it with a glamour glow and dark sepia. I think it works well with the one side of the face that is underexposed.

Canon 50D with Sigma 70-200f 2.8

After watching them for a while we saw two big brown figures approaching the dam as well. The rhinos thought they are going to have a quite afternoon in the spa........

The rhinos were a bit edgy with the elephant bulls approaching and got up as soon as the big guy was at the water's edge. What I love about this image is the content: blue sky reflecting, objects and emotions of uncertainty ( from the rhino side )

Canon 50D with Sigma 70-200 F2.8

On our morning safari we were looking for the wild dogs. They spent the night around the lodge, but we never saw them. Half way thru our drive I got a call that the Makanyane ( wild dog ) were close to Bush House. We immediately drove their just to find their tracks. They took of after some impala. I drove around the block and found them sleeping in the road. That was just pot luck !

Canon 50D with Sigma 70-200 F 2.8

The found of the morning were these lions. The Tshabalalas and Maropeng youngsters, they killed a wildebeest and went for a drink. We drove along a winding dirt road as my eye caught some drag marks crossing the road and the blood was still light red and wet. I then knew we were on to something. We found the dead wildebeest but no lions. Luckily they walked all along the road towards a small pan not to far from there. They all left the food underneath a Buffalo thorn.

It is amazing how their instincts work to know they have to return to the carcass. We watched them drink and followed them back to the kill. At some point some of the youngsters fell behind quite a bit and one of the females turned around with a very worried look on her face. She contact called to them and waited for them to catch up.

This image works well in B/W because the emotion of stress and worry comes forward
thru the mothers body language. By looking at the image you can actually read it like a story that is unfolding right then and there.

Mom is very weary around the water because they know about the dangers lurking around. She was keeping an eye out while the youngsters were drinking. For me it is amazing to see that they are such good mothers just like their mom, Dipelo. I saw these females grow up and I knew they would be just as good as their own mother. Unfortunately Dipelo is no longer with them.

Hope you enjoyed these images

Cheers for now

Sunrise and lions

Canon 5oD with sigma 70-200 f 2.8

A very good friend of mine Gerry Van der Walt gave me a very good tip for taking images of sunrise and sunset. By shooting in AV and pushing up your F to 22 gives you this effect. This photo has not been processed in CS4 .....yet. I think its a great result. Go and see Gerry's work on http://www.photo-africa.com/

The amazing thing about my job is that not one day is the same, for example the sunrises and sunsets we get are just so far apart from being monotonous. I took this image on our way to try and find some lions.

Canon 50D with Sigma 70-200 f 2.8

The lion sightings have been fantastic the last few days, and the early morning light are the key factor. These are the Mituzi lions , youngsters of the Etali female. We found them this morning close to Bush House Lions are probably my favourite subject to photograph. They are sleeping most of the time but when they are active the opportunity for good images are endless. They were on hi alert because of two other male lions being in the same fascinity.

Canon 50D with Sigma 70-200 f2.8

This the Matyea male one of the dominant male coalitions in the North western part of the park. His brother killed this buffalo cow. He only joined the feast when it was almost finished. That evening hyenas finished the carcass.

Canon 50D with Sigma 70-200 f2.8

This is the young male in the first lion image. He is getting very close to an age where he will leave his sister and go of on his own. But being alone can be his downfall because most of the other males in the reserve are in a coalition with two or more males. If he is not carefull he can be attacked by the more dominant and bigger lions in the area. At the moment their area of operation are very small because of the dominant males and females in the same territory.

Canon 50D with Sigma 70-200 f2.8

This is one of the Serety brothers of the North western territory. At the moment they are in direct competition with the Tsholo Matyea coalition. The young Mituzi male got to keep his guard up the whole time. The Serety males really have some wild look in their eyes. Believe me they are some of the most agressive lions I have seen in a long time. I have not seen orange eyes in lions like in these two lions. The weird part is you cant stop looking them straight in the eye. Its like those orange eyes have a hipnotic effect on you.

Till later

Grant

Some random images

Three headed Zebra

Canon 400D 50-500 sigma

To me Zebra makes the most beautiful monochrome images. They are not always the easiest animals to photograph. But the day they play along you get great shots.

I am back at Tuningi safari lodge in Madikwe game reserve. Cant wait to get out there again on Thursday. The sightings have been good the last few days go and see http://www.photo-africa.com I also do a guest post on Photo-Africa tomorrow on black and white photography so go and check it out. When I am back in full swing I will try and post image of the day and image of the week. So here it goes with a few random images.

Baby rhino on guard.

canon 400D with 50-500 sigma

Baby rhino are my favourite animals to photograph , one of the reasons are they can be so curious when mom is looking away, especially the young bulls. This one was running around in a open clearing harrassing other rhino that wanted to have a afternoon rest.

Female and youngster

Canon 400D 50-500 sigma

This is the same youngster with his mother. It is really a shame to think people shoot them for their horns.

Rhino portait

Canon 400D 50-500 sigma

This rhino was cooling down in a puddle next to Thlou dam in Madikwe. That gave me the opportunity to get this close up of his face. Rhino close-ups makes great portrait shots of these big animals. It actually shows a gentle side of these giants.

Buffalo stare

Canon 50D 70-200 f2.8 sigma

These giants are not always gentle. That is one stare you dont want to see when you are on foot in a Mopani thicket. This Image was taken In Kruger in the Mopani thickets surounding Shingwedzi.

Will update you guys soon

Grant

Wild dog hunt....continues

Wild dogs are probably the most successful predator in Africa and the most exciting to watch when they are on the hunt. Madikwe Game reserve is very well known for the wild dogs, and is without a question one of our icons. The reasons they are so successful are:

· They work in a pack system
· There is an alpha male and alpha fermale
· Their stamina for running prey down is ongoing
· They look after one another and always work with a plan.

This specific day we found them early in the south western corner of the park. They just finished of an impala that they chased into the fence. Wild dogs have adapted to fences and use it to their advantage. They know if they rely on the fence like they do on their pack members they can eat. They literally go and fetch the prey item and herd them towards the fence where they then run it into the fence, normally the animal is stunned or dead on impact. So I tend to think they see the fence as one of the pack members. It’s ironic in areas outside the reserve fences are the biggest problem in the declining of wild dog numbers in Africa and here they use it as part of their survival to eat. Wild dogs need a very big area to roam in, one pack needs at least 400 square km.

We left them and we went for breakfast. I told my guests that we will go back there late afternoon for the hunt…BIG WORDS I KNOW!! Luckily it paid off. We arrived at the spot where they were sleeping. They were gone to our disappointment…..but also a good sign. I drove along the fence and in the distance I could see the Wildebeest running towards us with the dogs behind them. We just stayed put while they were pursuing an adult wildebeest. It’s amazing how some dogs are trying to get his attention and the rest will try and bite into the prey and get a grip on it to start the weakening process.
The wildebeest got away and they started all over again, they ran away from the fence and fetched a sub-adult wildebeest.

Now they used the vehicles to corner the youngster. What a sight it was. The youngster managed to sneak past the vehicle but the dogs chased it for about 800m down the fence where they took it down on the side of the mountain. For me in a sighting like this you put the technical stuff away and focus on the content of the scene happening next to you and keep it as reminder on what happened. Go and read Gerry’s blog on Heavy weight fight on http://www.photo-africa.com/

Catch you later

Grant

Wild dogs on the hunt

This image was taken one afternoon in the south western corner of Madikwe Game reserve.These animals are probably the most successful land predators in Africa. This was the Dwarsberg pack. More on this hunt a bit later on......................

Time to go back !!

Nkumbi View

Our holiday came to an end and it is time to go back to the lodge and see what exiting new memories we can make. We had a wonderfull time in Kruger. Sighting wise it was a bit quite but none the less we saw some amazing things....like a whole herd of Sable antelope. The park is so green and lush, that also made the spotting a bit more challenging. We also saw some hair rasing things like two impala that got killed by a contractor speeding through the park. I did report him to the section ranger of that area and he will get whats coming to him !! Oh and that is my father in law inspecting the crime scene !!

We are leaving Johannesburg in the morning for Madikwe. So hear is a few images of the week we had in kruger.

We started way up north in Pafuri and made our way down to Lower-Sabi. We saw some spectacular buffalo bulls in the Northern parts of Kruger. Some of these boys I dont want to meet on foot, the stare says it all !! The light did not always play along for the photography side of things .......but my F2.8 70-200 did the trick !

The baboons also made sure we got our fair share of action.....as you can see junior was more than determined to get his breakfast.

As we drove out of Olifants camp the one morning we drove past some vultures in a dead tree where they where drying there wings in the early morning sun after the thunderstorm we had the previous night..They probably had a long days flying a head as well.

Well that was just a short recap of Kruger. Will update again when I am back in Madikwe

Take care

Grant