Archetypal Leopard picture

 

Puku

One of the traits of the Reduncini tribe of antelope to which Puku belong to (with lechwe, waterbuck and reedbuck) is water dependence, as populations are rarely found further than a few miles away from water.
 

Walk this way - Lion prints

 

Little Bee Eater

 

Saddle Billed Stork study

 

Eye shine

 

Light and Dust

 

Eland - seen near Mwamba Bush Camp

 

Lions - reality V stereotype

If you expect a Safari to be full of roaring Lions chasing herds of Buffalo down with flashing teeth and razer claws, think again.

The majority of Lion sightings are like this.

Lion are most likely to be seen "flat" and spend the majority of their lives sleeping. This is not to say they are lazy. Their lifestyle is far from it. They are just supremely energy efficient.
 

Tall Tales

 

The strange case of the missing boot

Wildlife can turn up the funniest things.

On a day long game drive from Flatdogs Camp we saw, obscured at first by scrub, a group of four young Lions. Stopping to take a look, it quickly became clear they were fighting over a "prize" of some sort, something one had and the others wanted.

It turned out to be a rubber welly boot.

As we had encountered the group just outside another Camp we guessed the Lions had found the boot and, fascinated by the small and texture, removed it as a trophy.

The Wild Dog kill

 

Whilst it can be shocking to see the instant a predator takes it's prey is always a special moment. Of all the large African predators  perhaps the most spectacular are Wild Dogs.

Their communal approach to hunting is really special to watch and to be able to follow a hunt as we did for a long time and over a number of kilometres was a real privilege.

The culmination was swift and brutal, and in a way I am glad I wasn't quick enough to catch the moment the Dogs caught the Impala and was only able to film the aftermath, but if you were to choose a way to go this would be it. From start to finish a matter of minutes.

Having followed the pack of Dogs along the route of their hunt we finally saw an Impala flushed from cover. racing from the pack in a series of leaps the antelope almost escaped. But Wild dogs don't have an 80% + success rate for nothing.

As the Impala leapt, perhaps two metres off the ground one Dog tripped its rear leg and a second jumped and caught it by the belly. Down it went and within seconds it was engulfed by the rest of the Dogs. Three minutes later hardly anything was left.

Sparring

 

Ground Hornbill

 

Wild Dogs abound

Whilst threatened elsewhere in Africa, it is clear that Wild Dog packs are thriving in the South Luangwa National Park. A tribute to all the park staff and to the Zambia Carnivore Program

 

Feeding frenzy

A strange sight on this game drive. The carcass of an Impala covered in vultures feeding heavily, yet no sign anywhere of a predator that might have killed the antelope. 

There were Wild Dog in the area and it is possible that this Impala died of natural causes having escaped from the pack.

 Whatever the cause, it provided a feast for the Vultures without them having to wait for other, bigger, beasts to finish first.
 

It's raining cats and dogs

 

The traffic on tonight's commute was dreadful

 

Spotted in the bush

 

Family drinks