Tag: big cat

Cubs

One of the highlights of our trip was finding this mother lion with two cubs in a river bed. At this age – maybe three months old – they are still reliant on mother’s milk and too little to engage in the hunt with the rest of the pride, so mother will hide them for long periods to go hunting and come back for feeding and play time.

Falling…

A leopard dozing in a tree above us. In fact, he was dozing so hard that he lost his balance and needed some claw action to prevent him from falling out of the tree and on top of… well, me. That was a scary moment!

At first sight

It was a long journey from the Netherlands to Tangala Safari Camp in #Thornybush Nature Reserve. We were just in time to catch the departure of the afternoon safari drive – and this was the first picture I took. What a welcome in South Africa!

Lioness in the grass

The intense stare of a lion stalking through the high grass of the green season. We came upon a pride of six or seven lions who had just caught a wildebeest and were busy devouring it. Lions have a strict hierarchy in who gets to eat first. This female was already done and was now looking for a place to rest and recover, while the others were still eating.

Cheetah cubs behind a tree

Photographing wildlife can be very frustrating. Not only do you need to find the wildlife, which sometimes happens and sometimes does not, the animals need to position themselves in a photogenic way as well. In a majority of the sightings, especially in a park that does not allow off road driving, the animal is far away. Even if they are close like these cheetah cubs, you still have to find that one spot that gives you an amazing shot – and sometimes that spot doesn’t exist. So here are two cheetah cubs, looking in the right direction, quite close to us, photographed through a tree…
I guess I need to try again soon!

Leopard after the kill

This leopard had just caught a big bushbuck in Pilanesberg. I’m not sure how that was even possible, I’ve never seen bushbuck there, and he just catches one! He was still panting heavily in the shade of a bush. His kill was lying a meter off, too heavy to be carried up a tree. Later, that night, a couple of lions chased the leopard away and feasted on his kill. Such hard work, and so little joy from it!

Bashful lion

A beautiful male lion bashfully looking away. What an incredible feeling to be so close to these animals, and to notice that they don’t even see the open safari vehicle that you’re in! At first my hands were shaking, but with time I have confidence to come away unscathed…