South Luangwa (Zambia ) - 'Hoofs'
Whereever you go into African wilderness, hoofed mammals usually are in majority abundance. Varying in size from the mighty buffalo and the towering giraffe to the tiny 'dik dik'. Usually out in open grassy patches, numerous zebras and impalas often crowd in mutual company the typical wildlife savanne scenes. So is the case in South Luangwa. Here the impala intermingles with the look-alike 'puku'. The latter is found in central Southern Africa in a belt running West-East from Angola through Zambia to Tanzania. Zambia being the puku main stay.
The giraffe in South Luanga is quite special. It is the Thornicroft's giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti). A giraffe subspecies which is exclusively found in the South Luangwa Valley in vulnerably small numbers. In total no more than around 500+ animals.
The below photo gallery gives some impressions of what we saw and photographed roaming 'on-the-hoof' around us.
The waterbuck. An adult male keeps an eye on us from considerable distance. Standing in the swampy area where a day earlier one of its kind fell victim to the lions. The narrow water ways crossing the swap area are well patrolled by sizeable croccodiles.
The eland antilope. Substantially larger than the waterbuck. The biggest males can weigh up to just under a thousand kilos !
Two red-billed oxpeckers take a back & belly 'tick-ride'
Elegant eland. Surely the most imposing and beautiful African antilope,......by my call at least.
The Burchell’s zebra. This subspecies found in Luangwa Valley has evenly spaced dark and light stripes as compared to those found in the south and east of Africa having broad light stripes with faint shadow stripes between the thin dark lines.
Caring parents flank shield their young in between them.
Keeping watchful eyes through a yellow haze of thin tall grass.
The puku (Kobus vardonii).
A young puku
Always impressive to encounter a very big herd of cape buffalos. On foot our guard and guide kept us down wind and at a respectful distance. None of the animals showed any anxiety and after a short stare they went on with their grazing business.
A red-billed oxpecker does its normal thing .....bull-riding. Peaking its head just above the buffalo's horns (left).
Good morning ...!
Being on foot, this is where 700 mm definitely is your preferred portrait lens......!
It will never win any beauty contest. That (poor) warthog.
Frequently rated as the mr./mrs. ugly, it doesn't make it to each and every safari photo gallery. Found this a pleasing shot nonetheless.
The Thornicroft's giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti), formerly called (Northern) Rhodesian giraffe.
On our last day and on the way out of the park, we saw a few of them close to the Luangwa river. We saw very few if any on the three days before further into the park and more distant from the river.
There are reportedly no animals in captivity anywhere (source Wikipedia). This makes this subspecies particularly vulnerable having a small sized popluation and a very restricted geographical range (South Luangwa river valley).
Who better to bid us farewell out of the South Luangwa National Park than ...the endemic Thornicroft's giraffe.