Reader Russell Collins sent a bunch of photos from southern Africa taken in 2011. I’ve put them below with his captions, but he hastens to add that some of the species identifications may be wrong, and welcomes corrections:
Angolan Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis) Etosha N.P., Namibia. Giraffes are perhaps my favourite (non-predator) ‘safari’ animal. They are surprisingly graceful, and they seem to have a curiosity about their world.
Black-backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas) Etosha N.P., Namibia. Sorry for sending you a picture of a canid, but I thought it was rather striking how well the colours and markings match the habitat.
Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) Etosha N.P., Namibia. Sad to think how close we are to losing the magnificent, grumpy beasts.
A young Oryx/Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) Etosha N.P., Namibia.
Burchell’s Zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) Etosha N.P., Namibia.
African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana) Etosha N.P., Namibia. [JAC: The forest elephant of Africa has been considered a separate species.]
Bull elephant seen from our makoros on the Okavango Delta, Botswana.
Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) with Red-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) Chobe N.P., Botswana.
Finally, Stephen Barnard of Idaho sends us this Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), and yes, you can see through the nose. Now that seems maladaptive! In one hole and out the other!
The beak is adapted for tearing apart carrion. The head is naked for sanitation. Their sense of smell , unusual in birds, is acute for rotting flesh. Few birds match the Turkey Vulture for soaring efficiency. And you can see through its nose. 🙂
As I believe I note in WEIT, food doesn’t have an inherent flavor: our brain and sensory system are evolved to find things tasty if they gave our ancestors a selective advantage. This is why we find sugar delicious but cats can’t detect it: sugar was a valuable asset for our ancestors in Africa. I also say in the book that, to a vulture, rotting animal flesh probably tastes as delicious as an ice cream sundae does to us.
I expect ‘high’ meat is easier to digest as it is being broken down by bacteria….? Tigers stash meals & return to them, so do other carnivores… if there is some left!
Aaaaargh! I’ve just come in from my garden, I was sat, legs crossed, just enjoying the warm afternoon sun when a cheeky little robin dropped by. I say cheeky cos he perched on my foot! Quite unconcerned he was, had a look round and flew off again. And as bloody usual, I didn’t have a camera to hand. Aaaaaaaargh!
You’ll have to lobby Jerry to introduce a “Readers’ wildlife sketches” slot!
I know vultures and buzzards are typically considered ugly, but I think they’re some of the most beautiful of birds. None can match the grace of their flight, and their plumage is like a window into the night sky.
b&
They have been admired in many cultures. The Cherokee called them Peace Eagles because they didn’t kill. There are many just so stories where they get their bald red heads from a selfless act like obtaining fire from the gods for the benefit of men.
More about them here from Evergreen State College
Thanks for that!
b&
Yes Jerry, taste and smell. Hydrogen sulfide smells horrible and is very toxic because it binds to hemoglobin. It’s emitted by swamps, sewage, and volcanoes-rather obvious things to be avoided by our ancestors. However, much that smells good to us is coincidental (esters as a chemical class generally smell sweet, volatile terpenes smell flowery) and humans evolved to find some of them pleasing but hardly all.
I’ve always wondered about visual appeal. Bees may find flowers “appealing” or at least attractive given their target-like appearance at bee-visible uv wavelengths to locate nectar. It’s been said humans innately like pastures and grasslands. I wonder why a sand dune doesn’t look ominous to us analogous to the bad smell of hydrogen sulfide? (i.e. ‘don’t venture there hominid or you may die of thirst’)
IIRC humans are largely smell-blind compared to other animals, as something like 90% of the genes we carry to build smell receptors are now broken and inactive. So while “sulfide bad” might be common, we probably don’t get anywhere near the richness and quality of smells even for things like rotting meat that other animals get.
Since my trip to Tanzania in January, photos of African wildlife always get me wanting to return. Being in the midst of the wildebeest migration was not only thrilling but helped me imagine what it must have been like in North America when the bison herds and passenger pigeon flocks et al still existed here, and how fragile multitudes can be. Doing what we can to support conservation efforts is so important. Loss of diversity is dangerous.
I think I might have been a kudu once.
It’s nice to be able to study good photos of species we have preconceived notions about regarding “beauty” and realize how wrong we often are. Thanks for the vulture!
Beautiful photos. I find it bewildering how so many people still get their jollies from killing elephants, rhinos, giraffes, etc., for sport and trophies or artistic trinkets or for idiotic folk medicines which really don’t do anything exept bring the animals they are violently taken from ever closer to extinction.
Unfortunately that damn Hemingway “macho-gene” still influences some.
There was a time when natural history museums competed to have taxidermy examples of rare animals, motivating collectors to target them. This is evidenced by how often you find photos where the carcass of ‘the last known member of the species’ is being displayed.
Ironic?
Great photos, though one gives pause just going by what’s in front of the camera…I would get within 50-100 yards of a wild bull elephant in a landrover, not so sure about a little boat powered by a pole.
Beautiful pictures. I love the zebras with their reflections. The oxpecker reminds me, in Mohammed Noor’s MOOC he gave this as an example of what had been thought to be a mutually beneficial relationship because the birds removed ticks. But more recently it was found that the number of ticks was not reduced on mammals with the birds and the birds were enlarging open wounds and consuming the host’s blood. The mammals try to get rid of the birds but are unable to do so.
Wonderful photos Russell! The Jackal’s camouflage is indeed impressive; opposite is the garish-eyed Red-billed Oxpecker on the Kabu. Africa fauna is my favorite, and I hope to visit there myself someday. Upon reading Jared Diamond’s Germs, Guns and Steel I was surprised to learn that only a few small African animals can be domesticated (cats/guinea fowl) and thus put the African people at a disadvantage when it came to farming/transportation/war fare/disease resistance. I would have thought Zebras or Wildebeests or some other ungulate could be domesticated, but not so.
Nice Turkey Vulture…what’s that dude been snorting? 😉
Yes, I was quite amazed once one sees this one against that particular background of brush. A perfect, detailed match.
Cats can’t taste sugar? My cat sure does seem to like vanilla ice cream (note: she doesn’t get it very often).
It’s not the sugar she’s after…. it’s the cream.
I love turkey vultures with their naked little heads! This one looks sad.
You would, too, if you had a giant hole in your head!
b&
In some hooman circles a pierced nose and shaved head is cool.
That kudu has gorgeous features! The horns, the inside-of-the-ear markings, the white unibrow and those lashes!
These are terrific photos, btw, Russell. Thanks.
The African bush elephant is seen stuffing its mouth with some very thorny plant matter. Ouch!
Just think, if the dominant species on our planet had evolved from vultures instead of primates, Rocky Roadkill would be Ben and Jerry’s top seller.
The photo of the giraffe reminds me of my trip to South Africa many years ago. We came upon a giraffe which then moved into the cover of a tree with foliage that covered only its head. The rest of its body was exposed, but the giraffe acted as though it was safely concealed.
The zebra stripes are backwards. Someone flipped the negative.
Love the way the stripes go up into the mane.