Category: elephant

African Lion, Bald Eagle, Cows, Coyote, Eagle, elephant, Elk, Favorite Images, Guanaco, Landscape, Lion, Point Reyes National Seashore, Red Fox, San Francisco, Serengeti National Park, Torres del Paine National Park, Tule Elk

Favorite Blog Photos of 2019

Here are some of my favorite photos that I blogged about in 2019.

This is a photo of a bull tule elk feeding at sunset.A bull tule elk feeds at sunset inside the elk enclosure at Point Reyes National Seashore.

At Point Reyes National Seashore 400-500 elk are kept locked up behind an 8-foot tall woven-wire fence to keep them away from the ranchers who live on and control 28,000 acres of park land and raise 6,000 dairy cows, beef cattle and sheep.  NPS bought their ranches decades ago, but never removed them.  The 28,000 acres are managed as the ranchers want, not as lands in a national park are supposed to be managed.  I know of no other national park where wildlife is locked up like in a zoo for the visitors to see.

This is a night photo of the San Francisco skyline with Angel Island in the foreground and Alcatraz in the midground.A night view of Angel Island, Alcatraz and San Francisco.

Photo of some mountain peaks and fog at dawn in Torres del Paine National ParkMountains and fog at dawn in Torres del Paine National Park

This is a photo of a mother guanaco and her young before sunrise in Torres del Paine National Park.A mother guanaco and her chulengo appear before sunrise in Torres del Paine National Park.

Red Fox Vixen with Snowshoe HareA red fox mom returns to her den with an arctic hare to feed her kits in Yellowstone National Park.

This is a photo of three lionesses who are on the hunt. One is wearing a research collar.Three lionesses are on the hunt in Serengeti National Park.

This is a photo of a mature bald eagle perched on a limb.A bald eagle perches on a limb in Alaska.

This is a photo of a male elephant walking away from a wetland in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.A male elephant walks near a wetland in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

Photo of female lion surveying her domain in Serengeti National Park.An African lioness surveys her domain in Serengeti National Park.

A coyote stops and looks at the camera in Point Reyes Seashore just before the sun sets.A coyote stops just before sunset as it travels across a ranch pasture in Point Reyes National Seashore.

The National Park Service purchased the ranches several decades ago, but it has never made the ranchers leave.

A bald eagle lands too close to another and gets bitten in the neck.One bald eagle bites another at Homer, Alaska.

Photo of a coyote on a ranch pasture in Point Reyes National Seashore.A coyote walks across a ranch pasture full of non-native European grasses in Point Reyes Seashore.

The National Park Service prioritizes private ranching over wildlife in Point Reyes National Seashore.  This is the worst example of privatizing a national park that I am aware of.  It involves 28,000 acres of national park land.  If anyone knows of a worse example, please let me know.

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Male Elephant, Tarangire National Park

This is a photo of a male elephant walking away from a wetland in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

A male elephant walks near a wetland in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

Tarangire National Park is known for elephants and baobab trees.  When I was there on a photography safari last September, we saw a good number of each. The safari, which included Serengeti, was sponsored by Nature’s Best Photography and the African Wildlife Foundation and it was hosted by Thomson Safaris. They are running another with Thomson this September. If you’ve been thinking of doing a safari in Tanzania, this would be an excellent choice. Thomson is based in the Boston area. https://thomsonsafaris.com/

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Elephants at Dusk, Tarangire National Park

d3A herd of elephants passes in Tarangire National Park. (Jim Coda)

A herd of elephants passes in Tarangire National Park.

When I booked a trip to Tanzania last summer I already knew something about Serengeti National Park, but there was another park on the itinerary that I had never heard of.  That park is Tarangire National Park. It is the third largest park in Tanzania.  It is known mostly for its elephants and baobab trees and it has both in abundance.  Here is a photo from my first day in the park. The photo was taken at dusk near the Tarangire River.  This is just a small group of elephants out of a herd of somewhere between fifty and one hundred animals.

For a larger version of this photo, click on my portfolio.

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Mother Elephants and Their Calves, Serengeti National Park

Mother elephants keep their calves protected inside the herd.

Mother elephants keep their calves close to them.

Elephant mothers are extremely protective of their calves.  They keep their calves close to them.  They are often helped by their other daughters or sisters.

On my recent safari we saw how upset a mother can get when she is separated from her calf.  I don’t know how it happened, but we were watching a small herd cross in front of us when one of the elephants started trumpeting bloody murder.  She ran back toward where she and the rest of the herd had been just moments before.  Then we saw this little one running toward her.  She let that little calf know in no uncertain terms that it better never fail to follow her again when she and the herd moves on.  It was a very clear tongue-lashing.

For a larger image, especially on your desktop monitor, click on my portfolio site.

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Elephants, Serengeti National Park

Elephants in an endless sea of grass.

Of the Big 5, the two species we had the most sightings of on my recent safari in Tanzania were elephants and lions.  I’m especially interested in predators, but my interest in elephants was heightened in the last year or so by reading “Beyond Words” by Carl Safina.  It’s a book about what animals think and feel and focuses on elephants, wolves and orcas.   So, I paid a lot of attention to elephant actions and interactions on the safari.  It’s so unfortunate that the people in some countries lust after the tusks of elephants.  One of the sponsors of the safari was the African Wildlife Foundation.  It is doing a monumental job trying to stop the ivory trade.  One thing it does is train dogs to sniff out ivory (and rhino horn and pangolin scales) at all ports of exit from countries like Tanzania.  Our safari began with a visit to its dog training school in Tanzania.