Snarl by MarselvanOosten

Well, not really. Quite often when you see a photograph of a yawning lion, the photographer will try to make you believe that it was snarling. When a lion starts yawning, the first part of the yawn will clearly look like a yawn, but at the very end of it, the expression on the face of the lion will indeed look like a growl or a snarl.

To make people believe that a lion is snarling when it is actually yawning, will spread the wrong idea about these cats, and will unnecessarily portray them as monsters. Humans like to monsterize predators, and that’s why we get Predator Week, Shark Week, The Deadliest This and The Deadliest That on television. It’s a shame, because these beautiful animals are so much more than just killing machines.

This lioness looks pretty vicious, but you guessed it – she’s yawning. Lions spend most of the day sleeping. A male may sleep from 18 to 20 hours a day. However following a large meal, these male cats may actually sleep an entire 24 hours of a day. Female lions are not far behind their male counterparts. They will easily sleep 15 to 18 hours a day. They spend more time caring for the pride and hunting.

In just a few months, I will lead two photo tours in Botswana where we will focus our attention on lions, and especially on lions hunting buffalo.

One of the places we will visit is Duba Plains, an island in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. The island has a herd of about 2,000 Cape buffalo, and a large pride of lions. Both buffalo and lion got there over a decade ago in a year when crossing the channels was possible. Since then both have pretty much been trapped on the island. For reasons nobody fully understands, the Duba lions mainly hunt during daylight – the reverse of the situation in most parts of Africa. This is obviously perfect for photography and our chances to see some lion action are much bigger here than anywhere else in Africa.

If you’ve never been to Botswana, then you absolutely should. It’s wildlife photography heaven. Our first tour is fully booked, but we have three openings on the 25 April – 4 May trip.

If you’re interested, then please check out our website for more information on this trip:
Buffalo, Lions & Wild Dogs

Hope to see you there!

Marsel

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©2016 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

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Mother’s love / Gerda and Shilka (イッちゃん) by belovodchenko

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White tiger by jcone

White tiger

Thanks for your visit. Your evaluation and comments are really appreciated.
Kind regards Jean-Claude!

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Cheetah looking over the Zululand hills by EtienneOosthuizen

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Pair of cheetah siting and looking out for prey over a magical view of the Zululand hills at Thanda private game reserve

FACEBOOK: Etienne Oosthuizen Guiding & Photography

TWITTER: @Photo_Africa

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A lone Hyena fights off a Wild Dog pack of 8. by africaddict

From an amazing encounter in the Sabie Sands- Sth Africa recently. The cackling/laughing sounds of the hyena coupled with the squalling squadron of wild dog was amazing.
Normally encounters like this are very fleeting, lasting just seconds, with the hyena running off quickly, but this situation was a little different, as the lone Hyena was trapped by the high bank and water with the wild dog flanking it on both sides.
At one stage the hyena viciously bit down on the neck of one wild dog and it let out a an almighty howl, the wild dog started to wear it down by continually biting his rear and it became a battle of attrition and “backs to the wall”, eventually the hyena thought it was better taking his chances with the gaping jaws of a hippo and sit it out in the water.
Wild dog have an inherent fear of water and it’s association with crocs so they kept their distance and eventually got bored with it all and moved off to find other prey.

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roar ! by Irawan-Subingar

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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A mother’s sorrow. by africaddict

This lioness carries off her dead 3 week old cub that had been trampled by buffalo, during the attack they sought shelter down a hole and she had been digging for over an hour in a vain attempt to rescue them, sadly she lost all 3 of her litter on this fateful evening.
She carried this cub for over a kilometre before placing it in a dense thicket and then consuming it in some bizarre ceremony, why lions do this is still not really known.
A sad event to witness and document, yet provides a powerful image.

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Little Snapper by staylorphd

A baby snapping turtle, walking among some freshly fallen autumn leaves.

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Evening Hunt by liborploek

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African icon by MatEngel

Botswana Linyanti area.
We followed this guy to his tree where he felt asleep in the branches for more than an hour. Before we could join the nap, patience paid off when he suddenly got up, spotting something, our minor senses never caught sight of.
Please click on the image for best view.

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