Warthog / zebra and eland / elephant / angry lioness at 9 yards.

 

nice. thanks for that
is the kitty cat in the last picture wearing a red and white stripped hat and glasses?

 

I believe that 'lioness' 'is wearing nothing but a fur coat...

nice photos

 

"is the kitty cat in the last picture wearing a red and white stripped hat and glasses?"

Dusty, I posted this one particularly to show the amazing camouflage ability of these things. The unwary will walk straight into her and become food.

She was on the left side of the road, no doubt waiting for some prey the males would have been intimidating somewhere upwind, and my Pajero had stopped right in the way. She was not pleased at all when my camera protruded slightly from the car window. There would have been at least four of then around but we only could see her.

The males only go and scare any upwind prey with their smell or a roar and the females wait down wind. When they kill they wait for the males to come and eat first otherwise a fierce blow will end her being. Only when the males allow them do they dare share in the meat. Males know how to fight and procreate but are not very good at killing a big animal like Cape buffalo or even eland.

 

do the males wear wife beaters or just have the unkempt hair?

 

"I believe that 'lioness' is wearing nothing but a fur coat"

You are funny.. , and correct, of course. She is oh so au naturel that nature absorbs her totally. Much we can learn from them.

 

That paw... I have seen a video where a male lion chases a hyena (these are arch-enemies - the mutual hatred plays off every single night in fierce battles everywhere they are) and finally in mid stride reaches out and tries a little swipe at the fleeing hyena and barely touches the rump. The hyena folded over with a fractured hip and lower vertebrae.

I personally saw a lioness jump onto the back of a fleeing buffalo, reach over and grab the beast by the muzzle, jerk back and break that animals' neck. Now you want to view the neck muscles of a Cape buffalo to form an idea of the strength in that fore-arm. She then single-handedly pulled this almost one ton thing accross rough ground into the shade of a tree where her cubs were waiting. Without a doubt she had picked the exact one fleeing towards this particular tree and killed it near the cubs.

When one male came to lay claim to this buffalo there was almost a fight as she simply refused to back down, and he let her be as the girls had killed four buffalo which was plenty meat for the pride.

 

"...or just have the unkempt hair?"

It appears that manes are a genetic thing with the males - some have very pronounced manes and even a proper wastecoat of fur and some males have none.

 

this is still my favorite buffalo vid.

 

Two hours north of Johannesburg (except the east coast - and Table Mountain, of course, which is protecting Cape Town from the southern blows).