March 15, 2015
Red Hartebeest, Yellow Mongoose, Lion, and Warthog in Karoo, Mountain Zebra, and Addo Elephant National Parks, South Africa

I've just finished eight nights in three parks back to back: two in Karoo National Park, and three each in Mountain Zebra and Addo Elephant National Parks. I haven't been to Karoo National Park since 2007 shortly after they greatly expanded the park and were starting to add new roads. It had been a nice park, mainly for prey animals, but it wasn't one of the most productive parks for photography so that's why it's been off my itinerary for the last few visits. I wanted to go back to explore the park on the new roads and possibly see and photograph the lions which they had reintroduced. I didn't see the lions, but did get some nice images of red hartebeest, greater kudu, and mountain zebra. While photographing one kudu buck, a red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) buck chased an intruding buck away from his girls (above). I enjoy visiting Mountain Zebra National Park for the mountain zebra and blesbok and the wonderful mountainous terrain. On this visit, I had great encounters with yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata). They're usually quite active and skittish and are typically on the move more than 30 yds (25 m) out. The one in this image was part of a group of three that were actively hunting. Two of them were in non-stop motion among the tall grass and small bushes, but this one stopped to prairie-dog for me less than 10 yds (9m) away. Addo Elephant National Park is of course a great place to photograph elephants, but it has also been rather good to me for other species, including lion (Panthera leo). I found this guy and his brother using the tried and true method of spotting vehicles stopped on the road ahead. When I got there, the lions were approaching the road and I couldn't get to the other side of them to make a good image; one that was front lit and with the animals walking towards me. So, I backed up to get them backlit as they crossed in front of me and made this good image instead. I photographed many warthogs (Phacochoerus aethiopicus) in Addo and this guy was standing on a slight rise so I had an almost eye-level perspective. You can tell it's a male because he has two sets of warts on his face. Females only have warts by their eyes.