Western Lowland Gorillas
Nouabale - Ndoki National Park is in the far North of Republic of Congo (Not the DRC). The journey to the park is an adventure all on its own but well worth it. Watching these gorillas who are habituated for research purposes is really interesting as they go through periods of much activity , feeding, playing and moving about. Then they all seem to go to sleep for 20minutes and then back at it. In this video these were youngsters wrestling and you can see in the back ground another wrestling match going on.You can also hear the soft clicking in the background which is the trackers and researchers who use that as their signature so the Gorillas know they are okay and not to worry.
Clouds of Quelea - Zakouma National Park, Chad
One of the many highlights of Zakouma National Park is seeing the clouds of Red-billed Quelea that come into drink in the morning and afternoon. It is a mesmorizing sight to see and difficult to capture the volume of birds that come. What you see here is happening in many other places in the park and around you. It is an incredible sight with so much going on.
Pangolins
I have been very fortunate with pangolin sightings during my safaris. These iconic animals are fascinating and there is one part of their behaviour that you do not see very often but is clearly important to them. This is covering themselves in dung of other animals, their favorite being elephant. It is thought it may have the function of working as an insect repellant, but is not clearly understood.
Lion Cubs in Mana Pools
Over these lockdown periods I have been able to go through some of the video clips I have taken and get them sorted out a bit. These are some lion cubs messing about instead of eating the buffalo that their mums had taken a lot of time and effort to catch. I remember watching this paticular kill from beginning to the buffalo's death which took over two and half hours, it was an epic battle.
Happy New Year
From all of us at Doug Macdonald Safaris
Today is World Wildlife Day - and the theme this year is "Listen to the Young Voices" - If you think, children have a natural fascination with the world around them. So this is a really good theme for the year and who knows maybe some of those in leadership with all their wisdom might even learn something... Anyway here are some nice pics of my kids in the bush and some little animals which I really hope have a safe future. Have a great weekend and hope to see you with your family on safari.
Christmas message from the Bumi Hills Anti Poaching Team
A great Christmas message from the team at Bumi Hills in Zimbabwe working over the festive season, as are many other teams around Africa to help save our wildlife. Happy Christmas and a safe new year to them all.