Africa Highlights
Read MoreVumbura Concession, Botswana
AfricaAfrican SavanahBotswanaOkavango DeltaTIFFselephant3346
This leopard and his sister were left by their mother in a tree while she went to hunt. After a long bout of wrestling and napping in the tree when the sun started setting they began to come down for a drink. It was amazing the small branches they could balance on as they slipped and slid on their way down. Okavango Delta, Botswana
Chitabe, Botswana 1/ 60s, at f/2.8 || E.Comp:0 || 105mm || WB: AUTO 0. || ISO: 400 || Tone: AUTO || Sharp: AUTO || Camera: NIKON D2Hon: 2006:11:30 08:44:47
AfricaBotswanaChitabelefthandedleft handedlegosOkavango DeltaLeopard CubleopardMammalsWildlifeMammal1787
Lion mothers are very protective of their cubs, and will defend them against other adults in the Pride. This mother and cub were perking up as they heard Zebra in the distance.
Photo taken at Duma Tau, Botswana with Nikon D2X, 200-400mm lens at 200mm, 1/500s at f5.6.
Duma Tau 1/ 500s, at f/5.6 || E.Comp:0 || 200mm || WB: AUTO 0. || ISO: 400 || Tone: AUTO || Sharp: AUTO || Camera: NIKON D2Xon: 2005:11:29 23:23:30Without even seeing the nearby waterhole the viewer can imagine it by seeing the intent gaze of this young lion cub. While he is too young to participate in the hunt, he is learning quickly about his future prey. Getting in position early for this shot I was able to time it so that I got a beautifully muted background in the shade while stil having the evening sunlight to highlight the cub's face and eyes.
For several hours before dawn we had heard the members of the large lion pride in the Linyanti calling to each other. They had not been seen for over a week so we were quite excited that we might finally be able to find and photograph them. At first light we raced off to look for them. While the adults were beginning to work on getting in position to hunt these three youngsters came tumbling along behind them. It was worth the days of effort to get this image of the three of them in a colorful and playful pose in the warm dawn sunlight near our camp at Duma Tau on the Linyanti River channel.
This Yellow-Billed Kite found a great way to get a "free" meal by stealing small pieces of meat from the African Wild Dog (African Painted Wolf) pups fighting over food below--brought by the adults from their pack after a successful Impala hunt. Unlike Lions and many other large predators dogs are well known for sharing food with their young and for the older or infirm dogs. This pack was particularly unusual as there were pups from two different females, although they were all suckled by the alpha female--normally when a second female has pups the alpha female will kill them, but perhaps this packs' decreased size of nine meant that the twelve pups were a welcome addition. The image was captured after we followed the disturbance among prey species to find the pack feeding near a water hole in the southern Okavango Delta area of Botswana, Africa.