South Africa Animals Views
The African Oryx Gazella also known as Gemsbuck or Gemsbok are African plains animals that travel in groups of 10-45. The Gemsbuck's groups are set up with a dominant male and in most cases a few dominant females. Male's horns are straight and pointed at the tip. Because of this they have been known to impale attacking lions. Females horns can be the same but sometimes they are curved backward. *There are two different varieties of Gemsbok, the southern and the northern. The southern variety have longer horns and the northern have black fringed ears. The Northern Gemsbok are rarely seen in South Africa.
These photographs were taken on a trip I made to South Africa and neighboring countries in April and May, 1995. The pictures were all taken with a simple 35mm SLR (a Pentax P30) with no telephoto lens. They were taken through the open window of a car (you don't want to get out of your car near these animals!).
Stretching across a 61,000-acre patch of bush in South Africa's Eastern Cape, Shamwari is a rare mixture of luxury game park and sanctuary. Here you can spot wildlife or do volunteer work at the Born Free Foundation, where lions and leopards that have been mistreated or abused in captivity, are resettled. On the edge of the reserve, Born Free offers conservation volunteers a chance to help tend the big cats and other rescue animals, such as orphaned oryx, blesbok antelopes and giraffes.
A vast expanse of looming hills, veldt and serpentine rivers, Shamwari teems with zebra, wildebeest, rhinos, giraffes, warthogs, kudu and buck. But just 18 years ago, this land was dried out and barren ground. Then South African businessman Adrian Gardiner bought it and began filling it with animals brought in from game auctions and other private parks. His intention was to conserve a vanishing way of life and take the land back to what it was before the farmers over-cultivated it and shot all the wildlife.
South Africa Animals Images
