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Misty

The common eland, also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is the second largest antelope in the world, being slightly smaller on average than the giant eland. Mainly a herbivore, its diet is primarily grasses and leaves. Common elands form herds of up to 500 animals but are not territorial. The common eland prefers habitats with a wide variety of flowering plants such as savannah, woodlands, and open and montane grasslands; it avoids dense forests. It uses loud barks, visual and postural movements and the flehmen response to communicate and warn others of danger. The common eland is used by humans for leather, meat, and rich, nutritious milk, and has been domesticated in many areas.

Info source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_eland

The photo was taken during February 2018 at Mabula Private Game Reserve, Rooiberg, Limpopo, South Africa.

24 May 2019Picture of the day, Wildlife

Pod

Adult hippos move at speeds up to 8 km/h (5 mph) in water; typically resurfacing to breathe every three to five minutes. The young have to breathe every two to three minutes. The process of surfacing and breathing is subconscious: a hippo sleeping underwater will rise and breathe without waking up. A hippo closes its nostrils when it submerges into the water. As with fish and turtles on a coral reef, hippos occasionally visit cleaning stations and signal, by opening their mouths wide, their readiness for being cleaned of parasites by certain species of fishes. This is an example of mutualism in which the hippo benefits from the cleaning, while the fish receive food. Although hippos lie close to each other, they do not seem to form social bonds except between mothers and daughters, and they are not social animals. The reason they huddle close together is unknown. Hippopotamuses are territorial only in water, where a bull presides over a small stretch of river, on average 250 m (270 yds) in length, and containing 10 females. The largest pods can contain over 100 hippos. Info source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus ========= The photo was taken during January 2016 at Mabula Private Game Reserve, Rooiberg, Limpopo, South Africa.

20 May 2019Picture of the day, Wildlife

Unique

The striking black and white colours of the coat of the Burchell’s zebra are breathtaking. The patterns formed by these stripes are unique to each individual; which is why you will hear people say that no two zebras are completely the same. Burchell’s zebra, which is also known as the plains zebra, has black and white stripes all over its body with only a few or fading stripes on the legs. Each zebra has unique stripes that can be used as an identification character to distinguish between individuals – similar to fingerprints in humans. The stripes on the sides run down and join under the belly. Burchell’s zebra can be mistaken for the mountain zebra, but the stripes on the legs (fading stripes in Burchell’s zebra vs. clear stripes on mountain zebra) and belly are distinct (in the mountain zebra, the belly is all white with no stripes). Burchell’s zebra also have smaller ears when compared to those of the mountain zebra. There is a short mane down the back of the neck. The tail has long black hair at the end. Males are slightly larger than the females, and they have a narrow black stripe running vertically between their hind legs. In females, this stripe is wider. Males grow to between 1.35 and 1.37 m at the shoulder and their weight is between 290 and 340 kg, while females weigh about 260 kg. Info source: https://www.sanbi.org/animal-of-the-week/burchells-zebra/

17 May 2019Picture of the day, Wildlife