| On safari-- wildlife and nature photos |
 | Spots 'n' blotches |  |
| See thumbnail below for a larger image | See thumbnail below for a larger image |
Leopard, cheetah, wild dog and other major predators share centre stage with the lions of Selinda. Point to the small images for captions, then click to enlarge
Leopard
Some of the big cats have been given names because they're seen so often. Amber is the least elusive of Selinda's leopards
Cheetah
Like Amber, Jade the cheetah is a solitary hunter, except that in recent years she has had young with her. The photos above show her with her offspring of 2002, then three years later with the two adolescents of her next litter. She's seen hunting with them; most of the time, they're attentive students, but occasionally they forget the seriousness of the occasion and break off for a game. The father of Jade's cubs is believed to be one of three cheetah brothers who roamed Selinda's grasslands for some years. The brothers have their own page on this site: Then there were two
Wild dog
The most social predator, even more so than the lion, is the African wild dog. The pack hunts efficiently, feeds voraciously, and returns to the den to regurgitate food for the pups and their mother, the alpha female, and any other dog which stays behind to help care for the young. As they grow, the pups demand more and more to go on the hunts, but are made to remain at the den...and develop their skills on such things as dried elephant dung (see below)
Hyena & others
Unloved by many, the spotted hyena is an admirable predator, not just a scavenger. Selinda's hyenas are more likely to be seen singly or in pairs than in packs
Exquisite small-scale predators: the mainly nocturnal serval, a cat which takes rodents and other small prey; black-backed and side-striped jackals, hunters but also pretty good scavengers which don't mind the biggest of tasks; and the mainly insect-eating bat-eared fox and aardwolf
Not forgetting the reptilian and amphibian predators: the Nile crocodile, with an African jacana foraging unconcerned alongside it; an eastern stripe-bellied sand snake, whose presence would bother only small rodents and lizards; an Egyptian cobra, one for people to keep away from; a rock monitor, scavenger as well as predator of anything small it can overpower; and a guttural toad
NEXT PAGE Heavyweight herbivores
Photo sales information
Equipment used at Selinda:
Canon EOS1n and EOS5, with Canon 400/2.8 and 300/2.8 lenses and extenders, 100-400 IS zoom & 100/2.8 macro lenses, Sigma 17-35/2.8-4 lens, Canon 540 EZ and 580 EX flashes; Fuji Sensia 100, Velvia (50 & 100 ISO), Provia 100F and 400F, and Agfa RSX II 200. Yvonne used a Canon 1D Mark II with 100-400 IS lens The Maplink on the left will show you where Selinda is. Go to the links below for more photographs from Africa and from Australia
