African Lion

African Lions Are in Trouble

A male lion moves therough the grasslands of the Serengeti, (Jim Coda)

I saw a lot of lions in Serengeti National Park.  When  I say “a lot” I mean that in relative terms.  According to the African Wildlife Foundation, the lion population has decreased by 43% in the past 21 years (as of 2015).  https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/lion

Basically, all African wildlife is in trouble.  The causes are many.  One thing my trip caused me to do was focus more on wildlife problems outside the United States.  The African Wildlife Foundation is dedicated to saving African wildlife.  I’m now a member.  If you’re concerned about African wildlife, please consider joining this organization at the link above.

elephant

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.

Bobcat

Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore

I was at Point Reyes the other day.  My old friend Handsome Bob, the bobcat, was there to greet me.  I have known this bobcat for several years now. I call him Handsome Bob because he has very distinct spots makings along his sides where most bobcats have fewer and fainter markings.

Bobcat hunting at Point Reyes National Seashore.

My Old Friend, Handsome Bob

Male bobcat.

Handsome Bobcat, After Eating a Very Large Gopher

I’m not very happy photographing animals against white skies.  It happens more with birds than mammals and I often don’t even bother, but Bob left me no choice.  He was looking his handsome self and so I cranked up the exposure compensation and fired away.  Bob looks good no matter what.  To see larger versions of Bob’s photos, click to see my portfolio pages here and here.

elephant

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.

Brown Bear

Brown Bear Sow

Brown Bear Takes a Nap Next to Us

Brown Bear Takes a Break

I was with a few others photographing this female brown bear while she was fishing. The silver salmon run hadn’t begun yet at Silver Salmon Creek, but that didn’t stop her from giving it a try.  She caught a starry flounder and then, after a while, a silver salmon.  A larger male bear was also fishing and catching nothing. When she caught the salmon he chased her for several minutes and she was holding onto the fish so hard that one or both ends fell to the ground.  That caused the male to stop.  After the chase she walked toward us.  She kept coming and finally stopped and plopped down not far from our feet.

She had a reputation as a very good fisher.  She also had a rep that wasn’t as nice.  She abandoned her year-old cub not long before this.  We would see it on occasion and hoped and prayed it would make it to and through hibernation.

Bobcat

Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore

Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore

A bobcat stops and poses in Point Reyes National Seashore.

This photo of a male bobcat was taken in March when things were still green out at Point Reyes.  The landscape is mostly bare now, thanks to the 6,000 to 7,000 cattle living year-round on Park Service lands.

I just learned that people like me who blog, and who have arranged it so their blogs immediately appear on their Facebook Profile when published, will no longer be allowed by Facebook to do that starting tomorrow.  One option is to start a Facebook Page.  Facebook Pages aren’t subject to this new rule.  I hope this change has a good purpose, like making it more difficult for the Russians to interfere with the 2018 election.

UPDATE:  Facebook didn’t wait until August 1.  I just checked and this post didn’t make it onto my Facebook Profile.