When fleeing from predators (and sometimes even just for fun) antelope make giant exaggerated leaps to put distance between themselves and the hunter, and to display how fit and healthy they are. We call this behaviour "stotting", and it's well known across African species and [...]
As the rains come to an end, and the grass dies off in the back-country, elephant herds which have been living in the grasslands begin to move towards the riverine strip. The increased access to water and fresher vegetation draws them from the protein-rich dambos [...]
They're not the most inspiring of our antelope, and they've got a bad rep for being a bit smelly (German sausage-like if you can get the wind right), but there's more to Waterbuck than meets the eye. Dominant bulls employ the services of younger bulls [...]
It must be tough to be a young elephant bull watching as your larger companions effortlessly reach into the branches of Tamarind, Winterthorn and Acacia trees. We watched this pair of bulls as they gently made their way from the grasslands back towards the river [...]
It's been a while since I updated my blog, but it doesn't mean it's been quiet in the National Park. We spent a lovely morning watching a small herd of giraffes in an open dambo recently. The youngsters were quietly sitting on the ground, legs [...]
In failing light, we found this beautiful leopard cub resting in a tree last night. She was escaping the flies and enjoying the cool breeze of evening. After some time, she came down and began hunting a couple of Spur Winged Geese which had landed [...]
Bateleur eagles are one of the most readily recognisable of all our raptors, identifiable at a glance by their rocking, unstable flight. Having a very short tail makes them highly maneuverable, but reduces their stability in the air, leading to a flight pattern that appears [...]
We don't have names for many of the animals here (in fact it's only one leopard and a few lions). But Alice is probably the most well known of all of them. She's an adult female leopard who's marked out an area of territory just [...]
.....it's all just a bit too much for a young baboon. One of the best reference books on baboon behaviour was written by a well-known animal scientist called Shirley Strum. After years living with Olive baboons in Kenya, she compiled her findings into a very [...]
When the river's very high, as it has been over the last couple of weeks, we can get out in the boat and enjoy a beautiful, water-level view of the Luangwa. As we floated downstream, we passed pods of hippos on all sides and watched [...]
