#wild south africa

[lost-lycaon]

No sneaking up on this guy.

[dreadfuldevotee]

crazy to me how people tag and comment anecdotes about Anne Rice with "they could never make me hate you". Honey, we dont hate her because she eccentric, we hate her because she's addicted to characterizing the global south as Noble Savages

[sitting-on-me-bum]

“What nice teeth you have”

Animal: African Wild Dog. Location of shot: Lion Sands Game Reserve, Kruger National Park, SA.

“I photographed this Painted Wolf at Lion Sands Game Reserve, a protected reserve with open borders next to the Kruger National Park in South Africa. It is wearing a tracker because, sadly, this species is endangered and is therefore being closely monitored by scientists. There may only be 1400 left in the wild, and 300 left in this part of Africa with one of the main reasons for this being persecution from humans. We need to learn to love our beaming neighbors!”

by Henry Keepin

2023 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

[tsalala]

The lone Tsalala Lioness stands her ground against the Kambula Pride + a Birmingham Male. Londolozi Private Game Reserve, May 2020. (Source)

[lizardsaredinosaurs]

Happy ruddy Christmas!

Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)

Along coasts in most of the world

Status: Least concern globally; protected as Vulnerable in Australia

[msterpicasso]

@__kdash_

[blogforfauna]

Parahyaena brunnea

Mostly due to habitat loss, brown hyenas are the rarest of the hyena species, with 4-10 thousand individuals in the wild. There are 30-50 thousand wild spotted hyenas, for comparison.

Brown hyenas are also known as strandwolves, which means "beach wolves" in Afrikaans, a language spoken primarily in South Africa. This name was given to them because brown hyenas in coastal areas spend a lot of time walking down beaches in search of food, and maybe to unwind after a long day. Some of the largest brown hyena populations are found in these coastal areas of Southern Africa, but there are also large populations in the Kalahari desert.

Although the name strandwolf suggests it, brown hyenas are not closely related to wolves or other canines. They can resemble canines, but hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs. Their closest relatives are mongooses and civets. The photo below shows an African civet.

Brown hyenas are generally smaller than striped and spotted hyenas, but they can still get pretty big, weighing up to 90 pounds (40.8 kg). This size and their powerful jaws make them seem like formidable predators, but they're pretty bad hunters. They mostly scavenge for food or steal it from more capable hunters like cheetahs, leopards, and jackals. Since they can digest bones, hooves, horns, hair, and skin, they can basically eat every scrap food they find. Brown hyenas often live in groups, but this scavenging is done on their own.

Their clans are much smaller than those of spotted hyenas, and the structure is more similar to a wolf pack; most hyenas in the group are the offspring of the dominant hyenas. Brown hyenas are very social and form close bonds with other hyenas.

I rate the brown hyena 17/10. I like them. They seem a little bit lazy with their poor hunting skills and walks down the beach

Photo credits:

(1) Christophe Jobic (2) Mario Nonaka (3) Yarin Klien (4) Thilo Beck (5) Johan Swanepoel (6) Joel Sartore

[johnnyslittleanimalblog]

Lion cubs by ulhas mayekar

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

[snototter]

A pack of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) with their warthog kill in South Africa

by Vittorio Ricci

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Yale Environment 360:

For nearly a decade, Nonhle Mbuthuma has traveled with a bodyguard. The founder of the Amadiba Crisis Committee — a local group formed to fight a proposed titanium mine along South Africa’s Wild Coast — Mbuthuma has long had the support of many in rural Pondoland’s Xolobeni community. But opponents have demonized her as an arch enemy of all economic development, and some have been encouraged to believe that if Mbuthuma “disappeared,” they would get rich.

Eight years ago, Mbuthuma’s activist colleague Sikhosiphi “Bazooka” Rhadebe, who opposed the mine, was shot dead outside his home by two men dressed as police officers. (Neither assailant has been caught.) Mbuthuma was also a target that day. Amadiba succeeded in halting construction of the mine, and Mbuthuma, 46, has continued working to protect this highly biodiverse region and the traditional culture of the Mpondo people.

This week, Mbuthuma, and her colleague Sinegugu Zukulu, won a Goldman Environmental Prize for their recent efforts to prevent Shell Oil from prospecting along the Wild Coast. As the activist headed to San Francisco to pick up her award, she spoke via Zoom with Yale Environment 360 about Pondoland, plans for its future development, and continuing threats to her life.

Yale Environment 360: Tell me about your struggle with Shell Oil.

Nonhle Mbuthuma: When we heard in late 2021 that Shell wanted to do seismic blasting off the coast, it was like someone put a bomb to our chest. These waters are precious, with rich ocean currents and reefs feeding whale calving grounds and fisheries. That water is part of us. We have cooperatives that do environmental fishing, using rods rather than nets that wipe out everything. But the ocean is also a sacred place. According to our traditions, our ancestors reside in the ocean. We have a right under our country’s constitution to practice our culture, and that requires protecting our waters. So we decided to fight in the courts.

The government had already given Shell permission to start seismic blasting. Shell is a big company with a lot of money, but we said that they are not bigger than our livelihoods and culture. We mobilized our communities to collect information to explain why the ocean is so important to us. We were backed by protests all over the country.

Even as the surveying began, the high court ruled in our favor. The judges said the permit to do the surveys had been granted unlawfully because the government had not considered the impact on our livelihoods and culture and because Shell did not consult the community, which is a requirement of our constitution. But Shell and the government have decided to appeal the judgment.

[lost-lycaon]

"I won't tell anyone if you won't."

Photo by Grant Atkinson.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Zebras, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Wild Planet • Share Your Shot

[anotherhumansthings]

This video makes me laugh because why are you yelling at a rhino like it's your neighbour's pet😂

[herbalnature]

A snug cluster of earth-toned mushrooms emerges from the ground in Pretoria, offering a charming touch to the soil beneath. It's nature's own cozy gathering, quietly tucked away.

[colorsoutofearth]

Bitter Aloe (Aloe ferox) in South Africa

Photo by Tony Phelps