Lions are magnificent animals. Their docile posture during day hours are radically transformed during the night when they actively hunt. As a team females often kill prey many times larger than themselves. Hunting though is demanding on lions. They rest for the majority of the time and are seeing lazing in the shade. Lionesses are the prime hunters, smaller than male lions they are extremely courageous & dangerous. Lion are classified amongst the big 5 and rightly so. A male lion roaring is an awesome sound and can be heard for many miles. It is this sound that remains with one for a long time as you lay in the luxurious tented camp at Tembe Elephant Park.

 Elephants are social animals and frequently touch each other. The elephant on the left has broken a tusk. This is common as the tusks are used to dig, break branches and for sparring. The tusk will grow again. Elephants of this age genrally form part of a family herd which may number many elephant.

Rhinos are extremely agile given their size. Black rhino are considered one of the big 5, also found at Tembe, notorious for charging and then asking questions. Smaller in size to the white rhino but much more aggressive it is a formidable animal in the wild. Black rhino essentially eat leaves, its the shape of rhino mouths that clearly differentiate rhino, its mouth is suitable for picking at branches and stripping the leaves from them. The leaves ensure that black rhino is generally found in thick bush making them more difficult to see and often one smells them before one sees them. Black rhino calves run in front of its mother opposed to the white rhino where the calf runs behind its mother. White rhino are more docile than black rhino and make for excellent photography opportunities.

White rhino have a more square/flat shaped mouth which is used to eat grass.

Rhinos are slaughtered by poachers for their horns – this is a tragic reality. Ezemvelo Wildlife Services in Natal are world leaders in rhino programs and have made massive advances in tracking and protecting these wonderful animals. The horn is made from compressed hair and has no aphrodisiac properties as believed by many people.

Buffalo Bulls – one of the big 5 and an extremely dangerous animal. Buffalo form family herds and can range from a few to greater than a hundred. As a group they are impenetrable even to lion and will defend their young fearlessly. At Tembe the buffalo frequent the marsh/swamp area and make for spectacular photography amongst the greener of the long green grass. Oder bulls, known as dagga bulls, are found in small herds and are often solitary. Short tempered and massive horns and a heavy body makes these animals very unpredictable. Beautiful deep horns r common amongst the Tembe buffalo

It’s not often one sees a fully grown male lion in a tree. And even better when one sees two in the same tree. Lions are agile climbers and will readily seek shade by lying on a branch. Generally lions hunt from the ground and not from a vantage point. Tembe Elephant Park is home to not only the largest elephants and tusker its also home to the big 5. The roar of a lion will leave a lasting memory whilst one sleeps in the luxurious tented camp at Tembe.

Male lions, as these two which are brothers, at times form a coalition, making them a formidable hunting pair.

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