Kwando - August 2013

[Kitsafari]

Such an enjoyable read and great photos for the end. The male lion is one good looking feline.

 

Is an albino African wild dog common? It does look like it has skin problems, like mange. But it is not clear.

[Big_Dog]

Thanks @@Kitsafari.
I'm unsure but I don't think so. Checking literature it doesn't seem to be reported. I'm also unsure if she's technically albino or just has very pale fur. Either way it certainly seemed a recessive trait as the pups were hers and none of them had it. She didn't appear to have a skin condition and seemed healthy - though the lighting on her in the photo is pretty bright!

[Soukous]

some great sightings - what a super last day.

[TonyQ]

@@Big_Dog

A very enjoyable report

That is a magnificent lion posing for you - and great to see the dogs again

[penolva]

I don't suppose you saw a lioness with what looks like a dark spot on her side? Pen

[SSF556]

just over 30 days and counting and we will be at LK and Lagoon....

 

great report and pics...

Edited January 10, 2014 by scootr29

[Big_Dog]

@pevolva - I don't specifically recall seeing one, though at which camp? I could look back over all my photos to check.

@ - You're in a for a real treat! Looking forward to your trip report.

[Game Warden]

@@Big_Dog Fantastic sightings on this trip and great photos capturing the experiences

[penolva]

@pevolva - I don't specifically recall seeing one, though at which camp? I could look back over all my photos to check.

@ - You're in a for a real treat! Looking forward to your trip report.

She was between Lagoon and Lebala. Very distinctive large dark spot on her side, bigger than a dinner plate. I would love news of her!

[Big_Dog]

Thanks very much Game Warden! More reports to come in the future!

@@penolva - I think I know of the pride you talk of, if they are between Lebala and Lagoon. They were the pride to confront the wild dogs on the first day. There were 2 adult lionesses, though I don't quite remember a spot. However the adult lionesses spent most time lying down or chasing the dogs in the grass, so she may have been one of them! (Didn't get a good look at both sides)

[penolva]

Thanks, she has the spot on her left flank if you do come across any photos. Pen

[pault]

@@Big_Dog Two great lion shots to start your last post with - what a lovely angle to shoot from.

 

Thanks for sharing. Look forward to all those future reports!

[madaboutcheetah]

@@penolva - why not send Spencer a facebook message to ask about this particular Lioness? He was guiding you then, correct? He might know where she is or where she went to if out of sight........

[penolva]

Thanks Hari I will, you never know someone might see her, she was with the mother of the cubs in my photograph. Pen

[madaboutcheetah]

I saw that post on his facebook, Pen. He hasn't been active over the last couple of weeks - maybe, busy out on leave. I'm sure he will reply when he gets back onto Facebook.

[michael-ibk]

Thanks, @@Big_Dog

 

I thoroughly enjoyed your report, especially the zoological emphasis you brought to it. I´m going to the Kwando Camps myself this March, and your report is making me looking forward to it even more. (Though I am aware that things will be quite different in Green Season). It must have been great to watch all these predator (inter-)actions, the lion-dog stalemate must have been nervewrecking. I´m surprised to read that hyenas kill full-grown hippos.

 

Good to read you saw Honey Badger even at camp! Like you, I enjoy "lightweights" very much, and the "Ratel" is quite at the top of my Want-to-See-list.

 

Kwara came a bit under fire here some months ago, how did you like the camp itself?

[Big_Dog]

Thanks very much @@michael-ibk.

You should be very excited indeed, never a dull day there! Looking forward to your trip report, will be nice to see photos from the green season.
The lion-dog interaction was seriously edge-of-your-seat. When you weigh up the mortalities caused by lions it made all the more tensile!
And when I first read I was suprised by that too! Hyaena predation on Hippo also has been recorded in Kruger by John Henschel, and on calves quite frequently in some large lakes of east Africa recorded by Jonathon Kingdon. I think due to reputation many can under-estimate them as predators.

Ratels seemed very common at Kwara, as said we saw 3 in one day! I'd be suprised if you didn't see one.

I like Kwara. I would say it's not quite as good as Lebala or Lagoon but it is still very high end. The most wild too, everything has locks on due to frequent baboon raids and it suffered a bit of elephant damage whilst I was there - a lot trees knocked down around the place.

[Tom Kellie]

~ Hi, @@Big_Dog!

 

The focus on the eyes of this jackal is sensational!

You've achieved what I seek — emphasis of the subject in context.

Everything about this image works so well, as the composition achieves a fine balance.

Yet it's the eyes which look alive on my computer screen in Beijing, more than one and a half years after the sighting.

Really like it a lot, @@Big_Dog!

Tom K.

[Big_Dog]

Hey @@Tom Kellie
Thanks a lot for the kind words! I quite it like...find small canids much harder to get good photos of than most other animals on safari!

[Tom Kellie]

Hey @@Tom Kellie

Thanks a lot for the kind words! I quite it like...find small canids much harder to get good photos of than most other animals on safari!

 

~ @Big_Dog:

 

Words of truth. Thank you.

Those small canids are around, but they're disinclined to sit for hours in front of a camera lens.

No catwalk modeling for them because...they're NOT cats!

Yet when a photo of a fox, wolf, jackal or wild dog turns out, it's often a showstopper due to the intensity of their eyes.

Your photo did just that for me.

Tom K.