Richard Bond sent some photos of Big Animals from a trip to Africa. His notes:
These were taken in Nairobi National Park. As you leave the international airport in Nairobi, you see a prominent fence along the Nairobi-Mombasa road, which borders the park. I had always assumed that this meant that the park was some sort of super zoo, a bit like Longleat in the UK, so I had never bothered to visit it. Over the years, so many people told me that it was really good that last year I finally went to see for myself. My original reaction was completely wrong. The park is a genuine wildlife reserve. The animals have been coming to the park area since before Nairobi even existed, and the fences are there to keep them safe from the roads. The long southern border is open, and many species migrate between the park and the Masai Mara, about 200 kilometres to the west.
The park is magnificent, with a concentration of animals and variety of species on a par with anything that I have seen elsewhere in Kenya. I have visited seven other Kenyan wildlife reserves, one of them several times, but in a few hours in Nairobi I still saw four species that were new to me in the wild. (I should point out that I enjoyed the three essential elements to a successful visit to a wildlife reserve: a good driver, the right time (I was there in the middle of the dry season), and luck.)
One of these animals was a southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum). It was clearly aware of us, but wandered unperturbed to within about 60 metres, before heading slowly away. I never knew that rhinos make nests. About an hour before seeing this rhino, a park ranger had taken me on a walk along the upper Athi river (which forms most of the southern border of the park) to look for hippos and crocodiles. En route he showed me where a rhino spent its nights (see the second photograph). It was almost certainly a white rhino: he pointed out a shrub of which both species of rhino are very fond. It is not very sustaining, with small shoots guarded by 60mm spines. It must be a kind of rhino-nip, since they find it so attractive despite the lack of food value. Black rhinos use their narrow jaws to get between the spines, whereas white rhinos bite off half a metre of branch. The ranger showed me several examples of bushes subject to the latter near the “nest”, so it probably belonged to the rhino that I saw later. By the way, all Nairobi rangers carry a Kalashnikov: it might be needed to scare off a belligerent beast, but the main purpose is to to deter poachers.
The “nest”:
On the way back from this walk, I saw another species new to me: a bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), shown below. Although fairly common, these are normally shy, live in deep bush, and are rarely seen, but this beautiful female was only about two metres from me.
Not a new species to me, but something that I had never seen before in hundreds of previously seen masai giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi): one browsing on low shrubs as opposed to trees.
Finally, to show that this is not a zoo, the fifth photograph is of a plains zebra (Equus quagga boehmi) that had narrowly escaped becoming lion noms, as can be seen from the scratches on his rump. Those traces of red in the scratches are fairly fresh blood.
Nice photos and interesting commentary. I didn’t know rhinos made nests either but, thinking about it, it makes perfect sense that they do.
The white rhino is almost extinct. I believe I read there are only 12 left in the world.
The northern white rhino is almost extinct. The southern white rhino is much commoner, especially in southern Africa, but rare in Kenya.
These are fine photos.
Did you see any leopards in the wild?
I saw one once in he Masai Maru. I also stayed for one night at the Ngulia lodge, where they put out bait to lure leopards from the adjacent hills. I saw two there, but I agreed with a guide that that was cheating.
Haven’t been to the Mara but I have seen a leopard at Lake Nakuru national park.
I saw leopards at that lodge, too, and agree it was sort of cheating – but worth it. Saw three other leopards hangin’ out on a tree branch with bellies and tails hanging down like bell pulls, either in Serengeti or Masai Maru or Lake Nakuru(it’s been close to 40 years; I was with my parents…)
A ‘nest’ or a midden? Rhinos have poop piles as markers. The ‘nest’ looks like a scraped and stomped on midden. I’ll defer to the ranger though – those guys know their stuff.
The White Rhino photo is magnificent!
Magnificent photos and great commentary. Glad the Zebra escaped! Rhinos are one of my favorite beasts and that is one fine specimen! I still get a kick out of the baby rhino (I think black) that PCC posted running at, then away from a car.
Thanks Richard for sharing your Nairobi experience.
Thanks Richard – great pics and commentary. I love the zebra. He looks much more muscular than the only others I’ve seen up close in zoos, and more like the horses I’m used to. He looks like he has the strength to outrun and kick a lion.