Africa Wild

They seem to have understood how the world goes around

Mel wrote:Why do they take the male away if he's still with his mum?

But I also hope that he'll get along well with Sylvester. Got no chance anyway... the only male to form a coalition with. (The old ones would probably rather kill him, given the chance... Are they still arount at all?)

They have removed him for protection really. Yes the others are still around, and all 6 were seen together just last week. It's only a matter of time before Roy and Nomad kick the young chap out on his own... this way he at least gets the opportunity to form a coalition. Let's hope Sylvester gets on with him ok

Richprins wrote:The males sort of know what is going on, but are used to the women doing the work...they come and eat, or get involved if it is mega prey, I think?

Their lives consist of marking and protecting territory, and procreating...

Instinctive, these animals!

Yes it seems this young chap has become used to the ladies doing most of the hunting work. However the slightly strange situation in Addo is that we don't have the same pride structures seen elsewhere - more male coalitions and individual females. That might change a bit now with Josie and her daughters, but historically the boys have had to do as much hunting as the girls

We left the lion to their warthog meal and headed north. Spekboom had a herd of ellies so we hopped out the car and down to the hide to see them.



Toenails



Blowing bubbles




Quite unexpectedly a herd of buffalo moved in and the elephants moved off

Drinking in symmetry



Brave pig



The horns on the Addo buffalo definitely don't dip down as much as those of their more northern counterparts

Very nice close ups

Nice chase pic!

Love the buffs too.

Speekboom Hide gives you great opportunities for close up shots
I find the little ellie adorable (who wouldn't ) but I like the nice mancured ellie foot
as well as the bubble making equally great!

We had a nice relaxing braai at Jacks picnic site, and once it was late afternoon we popped back to see what the lions were up to. Along the way we saw a secretary bird heading in to Waynes valley




The lions were a bit more visible than when we had left them, but still miles away from the road. They were still munching on the warthog so we left them in peace and continued on our way towards the exit at the south gate. At the crossroads, this warthog was bathed in nice light



The light was also catching this glossy starling nicely



Our last bit of good fortune came along Ngulube loop. A car had stopped but moved off as we approached and we got to see the tail end of a caracal

The tail end of a caracal is better than no caracal

Beautiful starling pic and the secretary birds are always pretty

Ja, you've been a bit useless with caracal-spotting lately!