Big Cat Adventure

All we saw of the male lion this time was his retreating bum.



The keeper with one of the best jobs in the world was feeding the lionesses through the wire, training them to do what was necessary to allow their keepers and the vet to make sure all is well.



They are a beautiful trio, but no wonder the three feisty sisters intimidate their potential mate.



JaeJae was showing himself off.






Two brave cubs aged just two-and-a-half months came out to play.

Staten Island

Weird film but I enjoyed it.

Brave baby tigers

I took a friend to the zoo on Wednesday. We didn't manage to see the baby goillas, and the male lion didn't put in an appearance. But the tiger cubs were lured out when their mother tried to get a snack, and one even almost dared to play with dad's tail. Considering that dad is half as big again as mum, that's a very brave thing to do. Sadly I didn't get a picture of that. The viewing platforms were so crowded, the distance too great, and the incidents so brief. But cub(s) and dad I did get. (I'm still not clever enough to tell if I have a picture of each cub, or two of the same one. Theye didn't appear together.) They are still jsut two months old!

Spanish Judges

Another film I didn't really care for. He has a wonderful head, but I still prefer him with hair.

On Safari

There are quite a few places where you can go on safari without leaving the UK. One is what used to be called Port Lympne Wild Animal Park - now Port Lympne Reserve (Lympne is pronounced "Lim").

The park is on hundreds of acres of Kent hillside, and you go round in huge tractors pulling huge trailers. There always seems the possibility that you might all topple down the hill on one of the hairpin bends, though it's never happened.

It's not easy to get good photos on the safari, where there are giraffe (including a new baby), rhinos, all sorts of hoofstock, all roaming free in the countryside. They are often distant, the ride is bumpy, and if you don't lose your lunch, you might lose your camera!

Of course, the animals who need protecting - or who we need to be protected from - are still enclosed.

The snow leopard was being secretive.



Tiger mum was sleeping but her two grown-up daughters were alert.







The tapir was happy to mooch round near the humans having a drink.



Two fossas were happily snuggled up together.



Another in a different enclosure paced about displaying his impressive manhood (though catching that on camera proved rather difficult).



My friend and I needed to send for the minibus to get us back up the hill. The driver was hilarious. His best trick was stopping beside some young people perched on the handrail of the walkway back to the entrance eating their ice creams. He told them they were loitering, and should move on - which they did, despite our hilarity at the joke. He then told them he would be driving slowly up the hill to check on them, so they must not stop again!

Nice to know young people can still respect authority, even when it is having a laugh at their expense...

We were lucky in the day we chose, because three days later some prat with a digger on the back of a lorry managed to demolish a footbridge across the motorway we used to get there.

Luckily only one person was injured, with broken ribs - a motorcyclist who saw it coming and threw himself off his bike. The other carriageway was the busier one. But the whole road was shut for miles for over 24 hours on a busy holiday weekend. I can't think the safari park was very busy on what should have been one of its busiest days of the year. I hope that driver's pleased with himself.

Signs of Life

Such a good-looking boy.
 

At last - Bhanu!

A couple of years ago the female Asiatic lion at London Zoo had to be put to sleep. Her faithful mate was moved to another zoo, as the only females they had to stay with him were his three daughters. So the girls were moved to their sister establishment, Whipsnade Animal Park, while their enclosure was rebuilt as an Indian village.

Since their return, they have spent all their time in this great new place in exactlyt the same place they used to lie with their mother.

A new male, Bhanu, has been introduced to engage their interest. Sadly, they haven't engaged his. He lived till now with his brother, who has settled in well with a single female in another zoo, but Bhanu hasn't really risen to the challenge of of making himself the boss of three feisty girls.

After a tip from a member of staff that he deigns to join the world for a feed at about 2pm, I made my way to the feeding place, where the handsome Bhanu dutifully appeared.

 


Nearby, a Hanuman langur - a species previously unknown to me - relaxed his elegant body in the shade.

Salute of the Jugger

This is the kind of movie the young, tall, muscular Vincent was made to be in.

Gorilla babies

I took my friend to see the tiger cubs the other day. She arrived quite late and I was pretty shattered, so in the end I left her to it. But not before I caught the two baby gorillas on camera. The younger one - the little boy - was having what may have been his first climb, watched over by his half-sister.


Eventually Mjukuu, the mother of the 18-month-old girl, unhooked the 8-month-old boy (not her son, but her daughter's kidnapped half-brother) and took him to safety. Meawhile, her little girl had to look on, which I found moving in a rather sad way.

The Salton Sea

Not a good look. Not my kind of film.
 

The cubs at 1 month

Melati is being a terrific mum to her two new cubs. They spend almost all their time together.

Almost.
























Then a brave little creature wandered off by itself.


Is this true love?



Handsome dad got up for a quick feed.

Sorry for the white sheen over some of the pictures. These are reflections of people's clothes on the glass. Given the understandable crush of people wanting to see and photograph the special babies, finding a suitable gap is very difficult.

Salt on our Skin

Along with Guy and The Velocity of Gary, possibly one of the sexiest films ever made.

Wildlife Heritage Foundation

Thursday was the first of four open days at the Big Cat Sanctuary. When I arrived there were already thousands of cars parked on an immense site of several acres. After parking, I walked towards the entrance, only to hear the mad shouting of my name as my friends arrived independently just nearby.

 It was a very hot day, so the chances of seeing cats was increased. And we were not disappointed. The spotty male jaguar was in total relax mode.



The black female jaguar, Athena, only appeared for food, and was in a very grumpy mood. She is NOT yawning.



I don't think the male snow leopared, Yarko, took kindly to being confused with his mate after their enclosures were swapped.



The clouded leopard put in an appearance.



As he strode by, he displayed his coat patterns beautifully.



Then he decided to pee for us. Or was it she?



Star of the day, though, was the jungle cat, Jack. Looking just like a largish house cat, he posed and paced, apparently hoping for a little snack if he was on his best behaviour.