African Skimmer

The total African population of the Skimmer is estimated to be 10,000. The adults can tolerate very high ambient temperatures without seeking shade. Their eggs are laid in a depression on the sand banks, as you can see from the photo above the eggs and chicks are very well camouflaged, their chicks are what we call precocial, which means that when they hatch they already have feathers, very soon they will be able to see, walk and feed themselves, if your born on the ground you need a head start in life!

The lions mane

The Lions in the Selous have small manes in comparison to the rest of Tanzania's Lions. This could be due to a couple of reasons. The first is inbreeding and the second is due to the climate in the Selous, we are only 70m above sea level and 100km from the coast, so it can get quite warm here! A big mane would hinder the lions when the temperatures rise later in the year. The Lions mane aids in making it seem bigger, useful in confrontations with other males or Hyenas!

Masaai Giraffe

The Giraffe has an incredible circulatory system, its heart can weight up to 10kg and measure 60cm as it must generate double the blood pressure of average large mammals to maintain the blood flow to the head!

Love is in the air

Snapped this pair of mating Pied Kingfishers early in the morning along the banks of the Rufiji river. They mainly feed on fish, but will take crustaceans and large aquatic insects. The males has two complete breast bands and the female has a single broken band. They are capable of hovering over the water to locate fish.

Leopard (Panthera pardus)

Agile and Stealthy predators, they are very successful due to their opportunistic hunting behavior. Common compared to the lions but difficult to see, you can find them in a wide range of habitats, but being solitary and well camouflaged you may pass many on a game drive and never know about it. We believe this female to be the one we saw with two cubs, she is very relaxed, hopefully this will rub off on the cubs and provide us with some great sightings in the future.

Shorty

Pictured here with a very guilty look on his face! Shorty the Vervet Monkey is a regular visitor to Sand Rivers Selous, he recommends the breakfasts, lunches, tea time snacks and is a big fan of our fresh fruit!

Kite spiders

Don't worry they are only 1.5cm at the widest and are not dangerous to man. The males are much smaller and have to be very careful not to eaten by the female! They must have to tread carefully while dating!