See It To Believe It

We recently saw an hour long documentary on this video shot by a tourist in Africa, and I could not help but be fascinated. Wanted to share it, for everyone to see. Sometimes the ferocious lion has to beat a retreat too.




And a wonderful comment left on youtube
"parit1211 iv heard this footage was taken by a tourist at the Kruger park. This amateur managed to capture a clip which many experienced photographers haven't been able to do in their careers displaying the circle of life beautifully. "

If You Like Animals.

Indoor photography is not my kind of thing. I don't do well with such compositions, and I don't enjoy clicking them either. A simple point-and-shoot or even a phone camera suffices for such photography for me. The GP on the other hand does great jobs with indoor photography.... I love seeing the results he achieves, he actually has made me look unbelievably good in so many of them. The fact that he goes all professional with his studio lights, light metres and everything, makes the pics amazingly glam, and I know I can never ever get to that level, simply because I lack the patience such set-ups require. For me, its more of seeing something gorgeous, and capturing it. And nothing captivates me like nature, and especially animals.

We visited the Melbourne Zoo this weekend. Equipped with my new camera, and my favourite subject to shoot, it would be an understatement to say, I was just waiting to start shooting. I do not, yet, use a tripod, so not all photos on full zoom, have turned out the way I would like it to, but here, I am sharing some of my best shots from the day. And may I please remind you, it is not quite as easy to get the shots you want, when you have a rather energetic child to mind too!

I have seen so many professional photos like this, that I absolutely loved the opportunity to click one of my own.

The eye of the pelican is what fascinates me here.

From the butterfly house!

Don't you love the bold colour contrast. This one was just roaming around all over the place.

Just perfect for the 'How Tall Are You?' measuring scale.

I love the silhouette in this one.

Bongo - The tough one!

Meerkat - Reminds me of an old man, with a pinched face.

What beautiful, yet sad eyes.

Be scared, be very scared, because, 'he' is looking.

And he is not alone!

This one is my favourite, the colour contrast is awesome, and I love the afro-style spike on the zebra.

The absolute best pic of the day though, was clicked by the GP, a butterfly/moth on a flower. You have see the photo to believe it! The flower looks luminous, its simply gorgeous. Am not putting it up here, because it is not by me. And I am so so pushing him to actually make some money off that photo, for it is just simply so beautiful.

Please tell me which one you like the best of my lot.

And since I have this entire post on animal photos, I cannot but link up to Parul's post, and the stark reality it is throwing into our face. Wake up, don't let the tigers die out. Make them live, help them survive. They are gorgeous beasts of the wild, we cannot let them go away. I am representing the following exactly from Parul's post. This post would be me spreading the word. I suggest you do too.

Spread the Word
Let everyone know that our tigers are on the brink of extinction and that they need us. Now. You can start by joining the Save Our Tigers movement on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and spreading the word wherever you go – online or offline.

SMS
A short message can go a long way to help save our tigers. Let all your friends know about the movement through SMS – just type in your message and ask them to visit SaveOurTigers.com to join the roar.

Write to Editors
Write a letter or an email to editors of popular newspapers and magazines, asking them to support the cause and highlight the urgency to save our tigers. The more people we can reach and inform, the louder our roar will be.

Donate
Organizations such as WWF and The Corbett Foundation work for tiger conservation and need our active support. If possible, you can chip in with funds, volunteer for work or donate clothes, etc. for the forest guards by tying up with such organizations.

Volunteer for Our Tigers
Your time is the most important contribution for our tigers. If you think you have the skills or the commitment to help the tigers on-site, do contact an NGO working for tiger conservation to volunteer for our tigers.

Preserve our Natural Resources
Loss of habitat is one of our tigers’ biggest problems. We can reduce pressure on forests by avoiding unnecessary use of forest-derived products, such as paper and timber.

Be a Responsible Tourist
Visit tiger sanctuaries and national parks and discover our country’s natural heritage. But please remember that the wilderness is to be experienced, not to be polluted by packets of chips, etc.

Wake up, and take action.

Honest Emotions

In more ways than one, animals are better creatures than man. They are honest in their emotions, and true in the actions. It is strange how we humans believe ourselves to be better than them, while in fact we are much baser creatures. Some amazing tales of animal behaviour surfaces from time to time and they always leave me amazed, and spell bound. I received a mail, today which made me smile, and left me moist eyed too. It also brought to surface the other great tales I know of animals, who reciprocate and display love and gratefulness, in the purest form of the emotion.Giving up even the possibility of a great meal. I could not but help share some here.

I remember reading a poem/story in school about a man getting caught in a storm in the woods, in a cold winter night. He finds shelter in a cave, where there is also a huge bear seeking refuge from the storm. The two spend the night hugging each other for warmth and comfort, safe in the knowledge they needed each other for survival. A fierce beast living in harmony with man.

(Photo Courtesy - http://www.lazydesis.com/chai-time/55419-miracle-lioness-kalmuniak.html)

An even more amazing story is of lioness Kalmuniak in central Kenya's Samburu Forest Reserve. She could not have babies of her own, but her maternal instinct was as strong as any other's. Quoting from the article

In Biology, we know that there exist the thing called food chain. It could be like this: soil nutrients consumed by grass, grass consumed by deer, deer consumed by lion, lion die consumed by microorganism into soil nutrients, and so on. The food pyramid draws on who eat who and who get eaten by who. This means, an oryx, a kind of horned deer living in Africa, is a food to wolves, leopard, lion or other predators.

However, as what was reported in BBC 7 January 2002, A lioness in central Kenya has baffled wildlife experts by adopting a baby oryx. Reports say the full-grown lioness came across the oryx two weeks ago in the Samburu Game Reserve, scaring off its mother. Instead of then attacking the defenceless calf, the lioness adopted the baby, protecting it from other predators, including a leopard.

The local witnesses stated that every evening the lioness and the baby oryx would rest together. The lioness would curl up her body to the side of the oryx. The lioness even allowed the real oryx mother to come playing with the baby oryx, giving the baby milk. When the baby gets full, the lioness would then chase away the mother to go.

That also means extra work for the lioness, for she has to protect the baby oryx. In any way, the oryx do rise the appetite of her predator relatives, many other lions would love to meal on the oryx.

I had seen the entire documentary on this on Nat Geo, and it was unbelievable. Kalmuniak, could not go and hunt for herself, because that would leave the calf vulnerable. Eventually she got too weak to move, and it was then that a lion hunted down the oryx. She was too weak to protect it any longer. Even after the death of this oryx, she is reported to have mothered the young ones of other species.

And this is the photo mail, I received, the one which started the chain of thought.

(Text - Sitting in a 3.8 metre sea kayak and watching a four metre great white approach you is a fairly tense experience)

It's happening off the South Australian coast, near Port Lincoln.