Rhino eating sand

Rhinos sometimes eat sand as part of their diet due to minerals present in the sand.

Lions Mating

My daughter photographed these two lions during a recent visit to the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve. Lions mating is something to observe. He would get aggressive and bite her on the head. She would then bite back or jump out from under him. At one stage she slapped him in a way that only a lion can slap. We came across the same two lions two days later and they were still at it.

Hippo

When posting my hippo pictures I mentioned strange behaviour where hippos sometimes save other animals. There is some excellent footage of this at http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Hippo-saves-wildebeest-zebra-babies-20101203

Meerkat

I photographed this Meerkat at the Johannesburg Zoo. I like meerkats. They would sit like this and watch the sky and surrounds for danger. They alert the other Meerkats when they spot danger in the surrounds or sky. They are brave for theirs size and will take on a poisonous snake. I saw footage of one being bitten by a snake. It got seriously ill for a few hours but survived to tell the tale.

Young Rhino

We were privileged to witness this interaction between a mother rhino and her calf at the Rietvlei Nature Reserve near Pretoria. The mother was sleeping in the sun, lying on her stomach. Her calf wanted to drink and tried to roll her over. It tried from various angles until she rolled over far enough to allow him to drink. She rolled over but the calf probably thought it managed to push her over.

Sadly, the mother has no horn as it had to be removed to protect her from being poached. A bunch of these poachers has recently been arrested.

Hippo

Another picture of a Hippo at play. Note the mud on one of the bottom teeth. It would dive down and come up again with its mouth open. I don’t know if it hit the bottom by accident or intentional.

White Rhino

These two white rhinos came down to drink late one afternoon while I was waiting at a waterhole. There are two types of rhino, white rhino and black rhino. Color has little to do with the distinction between the two species. The white rhino has a wide square upper lip adapted for grazing. “White” was adopted from “wide”. Now that we have a white rhino the other species naturally became the black rhino. Black rhino has a narrow hooked upper lip adopted for foraging. White rhino are more common than black rhino but are endangered. White rhino are threatened by commercial poaching to get hold of their horns, believed to assist under endowed under performing men to improve sexual performance.

White Rhinos reaches a height of up to 1,8m at the shoulder and reaches a weight of up to 2,3 tonnes. The horn can reach a length of up to 1,6m. A calf weighs approximately 40kg at birth. A white rhino has a lifespan of up to 45 years. Bulls who have no water in their territories leave every 3-4 days to drink, passing through other bulls’ territories as they go. If confronted they squeal and shriek and hold their ears back to demonstrate their submission. They are then usually allowed to proceed.

White rhinos have poor eye sight, relying on sent and hearing. White rhino are more even tempered than black rhino. I once came across a white rhino bull, cow and calf while walking in a nature reserve to seek help to recover a stuck vehicle. The bull noticed me and started to move towards me. I stood still and it stopped. Fortunately there was a thin, tall tree nearby that I climbed – fast. The rhino came to the tree and stood right beneath me sniffing the ground and air. Eventually the cow and calf broke away and he soon followed. From personal experience I can confirm:
- They do have poor eye sight.
- They do reach a height of 1,8m at the shoulder.
- I was very scared. Running would not have helped – a white rhino can reach a speed of up to 40km/h.

Source: Own experience and Smither’s Mammals of Southern Africa.

I have started watermarking my images. I was recently confronted by what a commercial printer cam do with even a low resolution image. You may contact me at http://www.coismeyer.com/ or e-mail me at cois@coismeyer.com to obtain an un-watermarked copy, depending on intended use.

Hippo yawn

I visited the Ratlhogo waterhole in the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve near Rustenburg a few times. This Hippo was around most of the time, floating in the water with just its eyes and nostrils showing or basking in the sun. One morning it was in a playful mood diving and surfacing and snapping at the water. This picture shows it yawning. It was around roughly every second day. Hippos travel during the night. I presume it travels to another waterhole a few kilometers away to make the return journey the next night. The photo shows a number of broken and missing teeth. I would stress if my teeth were broken and missing but it does not seem to bother this Hippo.

A male Hippopotamus (Hippo) can reach a height of up to 1,7 meter at the shoulder and can reach a weight of up to 2 tonnes. Hippos graze on short grass close to water but can travel distances of up to 30 kilometers to reach grazing. It consumes up to 13 kilograms of grass per day. This seems like a lot but is actually half of what is expected considering the body size. A hippo can reach an age of up to 35 years. Lions and crocodiles will attack baby hippos but seldom fully grown individuals.

The temperature was 3˚ C when I took this photo. It can stay submerged for up too 6 minutes, closing its nostrils and ears to stop water getting in. Now and again they travel to different parts of their environment. One is known to have walked 1 800 kilometers, from Lake St Lusia to the Keiskama River.

Hippos are one of Africa’s big five and are quite dangerous. They will trample most anything coming between itself and the water or itself and its calf. There is still one mystery about these animals. There are three documented cases where they have rescued drowning animals from other species. On one such an occasion in the Kruger National Park a hippo forcefully freed a young Impala from a crocodile and carried it to the side. It stood next to the Impala to fend off any possible further attacks, but lost interest when the impala died. This happened before the days of digital photography but I have seen sets of slides displayed at shops in the Kruger National Park. The set must have been scanned to electronic format by now.

Source: Smither’s Mammals of Southern Africa and own knowledge.

I will publish some more photos on my website within the next few days - http://www.coismeyer.com/

Walking on the beach

I found this family walking on the beach late in the afternoon. I suppose there is nothing preventing them from living on a beach. Previously I found them near lakes and dams. It was interesting seeing the family going for a late afternoon walk.

Waterbuck

Waterbuck reach a height of up to 1,7 metre and can weigh up to 270 kilogram. Only the males have horns. They live in grassland always close to water. They are grazers but will also browse from time to time.