The relationship between leopards and baboons is a complex game of threat and fear. Baboons certainly feature highly on leopards' menus, and leopards in the Luangwa are well known for being expert primate hunters. But baboons are very strong and highly social, so leopards, which [...]

Greater Kudu are my favourite antelope, and possibly my favourite animal of all. I found a group of females feeding on the seed heads at the tops of tall grasses and loved the way their red ears picked up the beautiful evening light.

Nature's cruel. We've all heard it many times. But the constant pursuit of improvement through the process of natural selection means that lots of animals don't make it to adulthood, and certainly don't have the chance to breed. What's unusual about this story is that [...]

We don't often get very close to Kingfishers, because they have great eyesight and see us coming! However, when I was crossing the bridge recently, I stopped to have a look over the edge and saw this Pied Kingfisher with a fish in its beak! [...]

We are lucky to have a very relaxed female leopard living in the nearby area. She has a huge range, so we're never too sure where she's going to turn up, but when she does, it's regularly with her two cubs! Now almost 6 months [...]

Giraffes spar by using their long necks and massive heads to inflict heavy blows on the body and legs of their adversary. We rarely see this fighting 'for real', as most animals prefer to settle their differences in other ways. But we often see sub-adult [...]

I've encountered some of Nature's less adorable creatures in the last couple of days. First, I was walking in long grass on a flood plain and found that there were hundreds of Blister beetles sunning themselves on the tops of the tall elephant grasses. At [...]

These Greater Blue-eared Starlings are ant and termite specialists, often found on the ground in short grass areas. Their iridescent blue/green colouration comes not from a pigment but from the micro-structure of the keratin in the feathers.

Sometimes the teeth of hippos don't form in the normal way, and the canine pierces the lip as it grows. While it looks horrific, there are several hippos in a similar situation in the Luangwa and they don't seem to be affected by it.

There's something soothing about watching an elephant feeding calmly nearby. I'm fascinated by the textures of the ears, trunk and eyes, and have many photos similar to this one in my albums.