New Territory

[PJL]

Thanks Flutts, Lis, RP, Mel & Pumbaa for the comments

It was definitely a good elephant afternoon

Fortunately it wasn't too busy back at the lions so we were able to pull into a nice position with some decent visibility. The lions were relatively active which was surprising given the amount they had eaten over the past 24 hours, but we certainly weren't complaining! There was a bit of a tug of war going on between Dawn and one of the young boys... she won quite convincingly









Duffy had gone for a bit of a wander and as she came back to join the others her path took her quite close to us



Meanwhile one of the boys gave his mom Josie a big hug



Once Duffy had settled down she reminded us of her weapons



Dawn finished snacking and all the meat must have made her thirsty as she got up and headed over the road to drink at Peasland







It was a shame she drank facing away from us, but on the way back she came right past our car which was a nice close encounter





Things seemed to settle down after that with just an occasional head popping out in the golden evening light



We had to leave in order to make the exit gate in time, but just before leaving Josie finally glanced our direction... this is one of my favourite photos of her to date




Thanks to all of you who have joined in or followed along on this TR... hope you enjoyed seeing some of the different parts of Addo as well as some of the regular stars of the park

[Lisbeth]

I certainly did enjoy it and also want to thank you for all the brilliant photos

It must be about time to go back to Addo for me

[Richprins]

Exquisite goodbye and thank you very much for the treats, Peej!

[Mel]

That sighting was just incredible!

I wonder how one could possibly tell that Josie is half blind when you look at your great front up of her.

[PJL]

That sighting was just incredible!

I wonder how one could possibly tell that Josie is half blind when you look at your great front up of her.

She's an amazing lioness... but when trouble like elephant comes along you see her slink away first as she needs the time to negotiate the terrain around her. In some ways it's very sad to see as I'm not entirely convinced she has always been like this. I have heard from some sources that the sedative used when darting (e.g. replacing tracking collar) could have been the issue, but I'm no expert unfortunately

[Mel]

Oh, no one would ever acknowledge if that's the case

[Lisbeth]

I hope that it is not, because they are not going to stop darting the animals

[PJL]

Oh, no one would ever acknowledge if that's the case

Very true Mel

[PJL]

I hope that it is not, because they are not going to stop darting the animals

You're right Lis, there is always a need to dart animals. However there are alternatives to the particular drug that is currently being used... perhaps the price has something to do with it

[Lisbeth]

If that's the case, it is a serious matter