Lions
This is a great sequence from one of our 225 camera-traps that are tirelessly snapping away in the heart of the Serengeti National Park. One of the largest and longest running camera-trap projects, Snapshot Serengeti has been running for over 8 years with out a break.
The millions of images generated by so many cameras are processed by the amazing online community of citizen scientists without whom the team of scientists would probably still be working their way through season 2 rather than ploughing their way through season 10 (that’s were we are at currently, November 2015 to September 2016).
Those of you who have helped out on Snapshot Serengeti will realise that there is a great variety of images that come up, they are randomly assigned to each classifier and currently have to have at least 10 matched classifications before being retired. A great many are of grass or the tail end of animals as they pass by. Its the frustration of camera-trapping, when you look at the results you just wish you could nudge the camera to the left a bit to get a better image but of course its way to late for that once you have the image safely in hand.
But every once in a while we get a stunning image worthy of a professional photographer or one that shows really interesting behaviour and those are the images that get people hooked on returning day after day to help out on Snapshot Serengeti. A little fix of wildlife in its environment enjoyed from your home.
This sequence of a lion pride is great. In all likely hood the four individuals we can see here are not the only members, others could be out of frame. It looks as though the female has a pink tone to her muzzle, now it could be a trick of the light but its also possible that the pride have recently fed. The full looking belly and the relaxed nature of the other members would lend weight to this possibility but we will never know for sure (unless more images from that camera-trap reveal more proof!)
It is most definitely one of those moments when you wish you could pan the camera around to see what else is going on, did we almost get a kill on camera? are there a bunch of cubs laying under a bush to the right? are there a pair of resplendent pride males slumbering to the left?
If you do discover more from this series do let us know but for the time being we shall have to let our imagination ramble.
The African Buffalo, Success in a Crowd
African Buffalo Herd
Lately we seem to have had some great buffalo images. These big imposing beasts aren’t exactly pretty but they have an appeal of their own with their imposing bulk.
There are 4 recognised subspecies of the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), three savannah buffalo and one forest buffalo. Here in the Serengeti we find Cape buffalo (S c caffer) the biggest of the three savannah species also known as southern savanna buffalo. It weighs in at a whopping 500- 900 kg for males or 350-620kg for females. The two other savannah species are West African savanna buffalo (S. c. brachyceros) and Central African savanna buffalo (S. c. aequinoctialis) both slightly smaller than their Cape buffalo cousins.
The forest buffalo (S. c. nanus) appears quite different being redder in colour and quite a bit smaller weighing around 265-320kg but it is thought that this is in fact the ancestral African buffalo from which the others evolved. According to the IUCN Red-List although the three savannah species appear similar they are at least as different from one another as they are from the more distinct forest buffalo. Defining subspecies is always tricky and apparently there is hybridisation where these different subspecies meet, including between savannah and forest subspecies. I witnessed this when working in the Central African Republic where you could see smaller red ‘forest’ type buffalo intermingled with bigger looking dark ‘savannah’ type.
So what makes African buffalo so special? You would imagine that such a large animal would not seek safety in numbers but this animal is highly gregarious. Herds can reach thousands strong but these tend to be temporary and the usual number is dozens to hundreds formed of clans of related females and their offspring and an assortment of males. The rest of the males form small bachelor herds of 5-10 animals or live alone.
Living in these large herds gives buffalo a certain security and they are highly protective. They are known to chase predators as a herd in order to ‘rescue’ a targeted individual. They don’t hesitate to run at lions if they are threatened. This is to be expected when there are young calves about but buffalo herds are known to extend this behaviour towards injured, sick and even blind herd members. It is so effective that it is actually males not living in large groups, particularly the loners that are most often preyed upon by their arch enemy, the lion. When buffalos are on the move dominant females lead the way with mothers and calves in the centre followed by any infirm individuals and older cows with males forming a protective ring around the entire herd.
Formidable indeed but of course the very thing that allows them to be so aggressive, their size, is also the thing that attracts lion the only true threat other than man to an adult African buffalo.
As a species the African buffalo is listed as ‘least concern’ on the IUNC Red-List due to its widespread distribution. That doesn’t mean that there are not conservation issues. Buffalo are often targeted by poachers for the obvious reason that they provide a rich reward in meat, the usual land reduction is a factor and in areas outside game reserves they are often killed as they compete with domestic cattle for food.
Historically buffalo numbers plummeted in the 1890’s due to the rinderpest epidemic that saw the disease spread from domestic cattle to wild ungulates. The disease continues to have small outbreaks. More recently bovine tuberculoses, again spread from domestic cattle to buffalos, in the Kruger National Park has also caused mortality as well as triggering a cascade of health issues in other animals, in particular, lions who eat infected buffalo. A whole industry has grown up with the sole purpose of breeding TB free African buffalo in South Africa. On the whole though African buffalo are well represented with strong populations in protected areas and as long as these remain their status looks to be stable.
The male and female have large horns that are fused at the base forming a boss across their heads, in the male though this becomes thickened and sometimes massive and fighting males will crash bosses together if things become serious and posturing doesn’t work. The impact is so intense that they risk killing themselves or their rivals.
Big male Cape buffalo
Next time you find a buffalo image, see if you can work out if it is male or female and take sometime to reflect on these formidable beasts.
Snapshot Serengeti 