MORE LEOPARDS

LIONS ON THE HUNT

Lions are essentially night creatures. The vast majority of lion sightings are of them lying around and sleeping. They sleep with ruthless efficiency, for up to 20 hours a day. So while a lion sighting is always exciting, it's seldom very...well, exciting.
This is not the case at Duba Plains in Northern Botswana. Duba is, in effect, a fair sized island, surrounded by water except for a narrow strip of land. This means that animals like buffalo amble onto it, and then lose the entrance and get stuck there. Which means that the lions of Duba Plains are basically living in an enormous larder.
These lions are so confident in their plentiful surroundings, that they hunt whenever they feel hungry, day or night, in the knowledge that a good meal will always present itself. So if you want to see lions as the terrifying predators that they truly are, as opposed to snoring pyjama cases, Duba Plains is where you want to be.

Lions are possibly the most cooperative pack hunters in Africa, along with wild dog. Like all apex predators, they aren't successful on every hunt, but at Duba Plains, the percentage is much higher because of the sheer amount of potential prey in a limited space.
To watch lions hunt is an incredible thing. There is a high degree of intelligence working here, with total understanding and cooperation between the females (lionesses are the ones who do the hunting) and constant reaffirmation of bonds within the pride through physical nuzzling. Each lion knows its role in the hunt exactly, and their use of tactics is second to none. Unlike wild dog, who chase animals down until the  prey is exhausted, lions are cunning and tricksy operators, using guile, bluff and ambush techniques that are both inspiring and chilling to watch.

ZEBRAS FIGHTING

I can never make up my mind about zebras. On the one hand they are the brightly striped horses of the plains, beloved of small children and effortlessly iconic in their barcode livery. On the other, they're stubborn, bad tempered beasts with a vicious bite, an iron hoofed kick and an antisocial tendency to break wind whenever they feel threatened.  Which is often. Either way, as soon as you see a zebra, you know you're in Africa. And that, on balance, is usually a good thing.

KENYA

Giraffes crossing the vast open plains of the Mara, where the sky seems bigger than anywhere else on earth.

Thomson's gazelles on the Mara.

MIGRATION

Every year in the Maasai Mara in Kenya, one of nature's most famous migrations takes place. Thousands of tourists make the arduous journey to the Mara river to watch a lot wildebeest crossing, in the hope that they might see one being eaten by the Nile crocodiles that gather in anticipation.

The crocs (and the tourists) hang around looking for stragglers and animals isolated by the strength of the fast flowing river. The zebra shown below escaped his attacker, turned in the water and reached the safety of the bank, but suffered a large chunk chewed from its rump.

It is unlikely to have survived the night, though. Even if the wound and attendant flies did not prove fatal (and zebra are remarkably quick to heal) it would probably be too weak to cross the river, and the scent of blood would attract all manner of predators.