For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Tour and travelogue to KNP Game Reserve S Africa - Part 4

Another spectacular dawn after a good nights sleep with just the sound of the Lion, Hyena and Zebra in the distance.
It is a bit cooler this morning and the Speckled Mousebird sits where he can absorb the early suns rays.
Today a Crocodile sleeps on the bank while a Heron fishes nearby.
Out of camp and a large herd of Elephant cross the road with this little baby in tow. It is about two years old and still suckling.
This old male finds it hard to put on the breaks after coming down the slope to join the others. When they get those dents in the top sides of their heads, you can know they are very old, about 60-70 years.
Continuing down the road, the White Rhino thinks he is invisible behind the tree and stares at us taking pictures of him.
About 300 Buffalo were in this group heading to who knows where and stopping to eat along the way. At one time, Buffalo were scarce as they were mostly killed off by bovine TB, but non-affected ones were brought in and in the space of about 8 years have made a remarkable recovery.
Baby Baboon sits on his mothers back next to her tail for support. If they are under 3 months old, they cling to her stomach wherever she goes.
This male ostrich is out looking for a mate. How do I know? When the front, bottom of their legs are red like this, it is an indication to the females that they are ready to breed. But the poor guy did not know what was going to happen to him!!
Just a few feet ahead, a pride of lions lay in the shade looking for lunch.
As the young cub (about 2 years old) spotted the ostrich, he gave chase but it ran off so quickly, the cub gave up after only a few yards. I guess the ostrich will be much more careful in future and not go walking around with his head in the clouds not noticing what danger lurks around the bushes. LOL!!
And who can resist taking a picture of a butterfly? Not me!! The only problem is I had a 300mm lens on which is definitely not made for macro photography.
After lunch, we decided to go to another museum but I will let these photographs speak for themselves. Please note that these are fetuses which were found in already dead animals. The park has a very strong policy not to interfere in anything and just to let nature take its course.
This Buffalo has the strangest horns and I wonder why they became deformed like this. It must still have allowed him to eat as it is not a young animal.

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