Wildlife Ngorongoro Crater

Wildlife, Tanzania 2012On our Kilimanjaro climb trip we spent a day in the Ngorongoro

Crater where wildlife is abundant.

Zebra - Equus quaggaEach individual has a unique stripe pattern.

Golden Jackal, canis aureusGreat sequence later in the show of a jackal

chasing a newborn Thompson’s gazelle.

Cape Buffalo, syncerus caffer

One big animal!

Cape Buffalo

Wildebeest, connochaetes taurinusTens of thousands of these curious creatures

in the crater.

Wildebeest with newbornThis youngster is probably only a week or two old. We saw adult females with placenta still attached and babies with the umbilical chord still attached.

Warthog, Phacochoerus africanusFunny looking, but nobody messes with them

except maybe a very hungry lion. They tolerate the birds as they eat bugs and ticks.

Thompson’s Gazelle, eudorcas thomsonii

Lots of very young babies like this one.

Weaver nests

Black Stork, ciconia nigra

Ostrich, struthio camelus

Big Bird

Kori Bustard, ardeotis kori

Love the name!

Black Kite, milvus migransLots of them around the lunch spot. Not safe to eat chicken in the open. A friend had a piece of chicken

taken out of her hand halfway to her mouth by a kite.

Grey Crowned Crane, balearica regulorum

National bird of Uganda

Grant’s Gazelle, nanger granti

Larger than the Tompson’s.

Black Rhinoceros, diceros bicornisBattleship of the savanna. Endangered because

people in Asia believe that the ground up horn of the Black Rhino is an aphrodisiac.

Spotted Hyena, crocuta crocuta

African Elephant, loxodonta africanaMales tend to hang out in the crater while the

families stick to the crater rim. (fewer predators)

Hippopotamus, hippopotamus amphibius

You can just drive around me.

Lion, panthera leoA gorgeous female probably not more than 15’ from our

vehicle.

Baboon, papio anubisDo not feed them!

Lion Love

When the female is in heat a lion couple may mate as many as 20 times. Better safe than sorry.

Predator/Prey

• We were privileged to get to see a Jackal attempting to take a baby (1 to 2 week old) Thompson’s Gazelle.

• What followed was one of the most remarkable scenes.

Young Thompson’s GazelleSeparated from its mother, the baby was

vulnerable.

The Jackal approches

The chase is on

As soon as the jackal began to chase the baby gazelle, who was amazingly fast, the mother gazelle ran at the jackal, trying to distract

and/or slow it down.

The jackal catches the babyBut because the mother gazelle is in close pursuit

the jackal can’t stop to finish the kill. The baby dropped to the ground and the jackal overran it.

Jackal trying to scare Mom off.

Now several adult gazelles get involved.

They will just NOT leave me alone!

OK OK, uncle, I give up, leave me alone.

The End

We had an amazing day in Ngorongoro Crater. Such a beautiful lush environment where dozens of species

live in a balanced system of predators and prey drawn to the crater by the abundant water, good

grazing, and protected environment.