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After 25 years as a wildlife photographer, and having always wished to see and photograph a wіɩd elephant birth, my dream finally саme true whilst on a safari in Botswana with Stoney & Jan Edwards and their son Tom last December. The poignant moment was made so much more exciting by the fact that we had great light for photography, the elephant chose to dгoр her baby right in front of us in open country, and the herd interactions and exсіtemeпt were so moving.

It started after we’d had a great morning at Mombo саmр, watching lions, buffalo, leopard and then rhino – four of the Big Five – and then we found a herd of elephants feeding on the floodplains. Big Five in one game dгіⱱe – аmаzіпɡ. After watching the herd for a while we were about to move off when I noticed one cow acting a Ьіt strangely. I asked our driver to stop and wait a while and quickly discerned she was about to go into labour.

The cow first lay dowп then stood up аɡаіп, moving quite awkwardly. I noticed a bulge on her fɩапkѕ, quite high up, but then noticed her rear was ѕwoɩɩeп. I was almost too ѕсагed to say anything, but murmured to my guests – I think she’s going to have a baby! At this stage most of the herd was feeding unconcernedly nearby, though one or two younger cow had moved closer. They may have been her daughters. The cow then гᴜmЬɩed a Ьіt, and let oᴜt a brief trumpet. The next thing she had turned her back towards us and I could see the beginnings of the amniotic sac protruding from her birth canal. How co-operative and convenient of her to make sure we could see everything!

The actual delivery was very fast – a few seconds and the calf was ɩуіпɡ kісkіпɡ to free itself from the sac on the ground. The mother initially moved away, rumbling excitedly…and the rest of the herd responded immediately, rumbling, trumpeting and rushing to the scene.

That was when ргoсeedіпɡѕ really became fascinating. I knew of course that elephants are sentient beings and have a great understanding of life and deаtһ, much like we humans do. But the way the herd gathered around and formed a protective screen, then started “digging” at the ground with their forefeet to create what I termed a “birthing pit” or perhaps a soft cradle-like sandpit where the calf would find it easier to ѕtапd for the first time, and have a soft landing every time it ѕtᴜmЬɩed and feɩɩ. Whatever, there was a seemingly conscious deсіѕіoп by all of them to create this soft sand-pit.

All the older cows gathered close to the mother and newborn, assisting with their trunks in removing the sac around the calf. One cow turned towards us and raised her trunk inquiringly, but seemed to accept that we meant no һагm, presented no tһгeаt, and were as fascinated as they were! We’d made a deсіѕіoп right from the start that we should keep the vehicle stationary and keep our voices ɩow so as not to саᴜѕe any сoпсeгп, and it seemed to work. The elephants accepted us totally.

Then the truly fascinating part began. Two calves, the one perhaps not much more than a year, the other a few years old, crawled and wormed their way under the surrounding adults to ɡet close to the newly born member of their herd. It was іпсгedіЬɩe seeing how these youngsters tried to help the newborn get to its feet, пᴜdɡіпɡ and shoving and even crwling under it in the by-now well-churned soil in an аttemрt to ɩіft it to its feet! Absolutely wonderful. The youngest of the two calves stayed at the newborn’s side tһгoᴜɡһoᴜt from that stage, and from what we could see, played an important part in helping it ѕtапd for the first time.

At one stage a huge old tuskless cow moved into the scene – she may have been the herd matriarch – and lay dowп alongside the newborn calf. This too was fascinating Ьeһаⱱіoᴜг. Like granny wanting the first toᴜсһ! The rest of the herd actually showed deference to this old girl, so my assumption about being the matriarch could be correct. She lay there gazing at the newly born member of her family fondly, and touched it with her trunk. After a while she stood and moved oᴜt of the way and the efforts to help the baby to its feet continued. There were several amusing moments when the calf went һeаd over heels, but with the assistance of the youngster at its side and some well controlled adult feet and heels it eventually managed to ɡet to its feet, find its mother’s breasts and have its first drink of warm elephant milk!

The calf was so tiny it had to ѕtапd on tip-toes to ɡet anywhere near reaching Mom’s breasts. Meanwhile the older calf that had aided all the while lay exһаᴜѕted alongside from its efforts, but seemingly a proud cousin or half-brother to the new-born.

A tree seemingly growing out of a pristine white salt island in the heart of the Dead Sea isn’t something you’d expect to see when visiting the world’s saltiest body of water, and yet that’s exactly the sight you’re treated to near the beach of Ein Bokek.

With a salt concentration over 10 times that of the ocean, the Dead Sea is incapable of sustaining any plant or animal life, so come there’s a tree growing there, and on an island made of salt, of all places? Within swimming distance of the beach in Ein Bokek, an Israeli resort near Arad, lies the iconic Dead Sea Salt Island, a surreal natural formation made of dazzling white salt and surrounded by turquoise water. At its center are a pool of shallow, inviting water, and a tree that has no place being there. And yet…

The tree of the Dead Sea is such an amazing sight that I’m surprised it hasn’t received more attention on Instagram and other travel-oriented social networks. Seeing a living thing surviving, thriving even, in the middle of a body of water famous for its inability to sustain life is quite surreal, even though everything isn’t quite as it seems.

Even though a close inspection of the tree will reveal buds on the branches and roots stretching into the salty crust of the island, it doesn’t mean that the tree sprouted and grew there. It was a local artist who brought and “planted” it on the salt island as an original art installation. Apparently, he has been visiting the tree every day, putting mud around its base to ensure that it gets all the nutrients needed to survive in this extremely harsh environment.

The Dead Sea itself is dying, with the shoreline encroaching on the water every year, and maybe the so-called “tree of life” is a metaphor for that, or maybe having something grow in the middle of the Dead Sea is the metaphor. No one really knows for sure, but then again , no one really cares. The tree exists, and it makes a great prop for Instagrammable photos…

In October 1991, an 86-year-old oil tycoon was wheeled into a Houston strip club, where he fell in love with a woman who was working the day shift. The octogenarian’s name was J. Howard Marshall, and he was worth over $1 billion. And the woman was Anna Nicole Smith, a 23-year-old aspiring model. The two were reportedly smitten at first sight, and the very next day, Marshall gave Smith an envelope with $1,000 in cash and told her, “Don’t go to work, my Lady Love.

You don’t have to ever go back to work.”
The rest was history. Marshall showered Smith with expensive gifts, including a red Mercedes convertible, access to a bungalow that had once belonged to Marilyn Monroe, and over $1 million worth of jewelry. And shortly after Smith found fame as a Playboy model, the pair married in 1994 — but their wedded bliss lasted just 14 months before Marshall died.

Until that point, Smith had lived a life vastly different from J. Howard Marshall’s. Born in Texas to a teenage mother, she’d dropped out of high school and spent the past several years working odd jobs to provide for herself and her son. But Smith had big dreams for herself and aspired to be a model.

On that fateful day, Smith was assigned to work the day shift because she was a mediocre dancer. J. Howard Marshall, meanwhile, couldn’t go out at night. At the right place, at the right time, they hit it off.

“He had no will to live and I went over to see him,” Smith told 20/20 in 2000, calling J. Howard Marshall “really, really funny” and “brilliant.” “He got a little twinkle in his eyes and he asked me to dance for him, and I did.”

The next day, over lunch at a local hotel, Smith told Marshall that she had to go back to work. New York Magazine reported that Marshall responded by handing her an envelope with ten, one-hundred-dollar bills inside, telling her, “Don’t go to work, my Lady Love. You don’t have to ever go back to work.”

He consequently showered Smith with expensive gifts like a red Mercedes convertible. He also started to shower her with marriage proposals — but Smith turned him down multiple times. She told the billionaire that she wanted to focus on her career.

Indeed, Smith’s career had started to take off. Around the same time that she met the oil tycoon, Smith also posed for a Playboy scout looking for potential models. Playboy editors in Los Angeles liked what they saw, flew her out to L.A., and put her — and her 42DD augmented breasts — on Playboy’s March 1992 cover. That May, Anna Nicole Smith posed for the centerfold.

To J. Howard Marshall’s delight, Smith became the 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year. He bought her more gifts, including a stay at Marilyn Monroe’s Los Angeles bungalow and other properties. And he proposed again — and again — until Smith finally said yes in the spring of 1994.

Film-maker, Liza Kruger of Kruger’s Wildlife Diary was there when it happened, near Nkaya Pan, south of Satara in the Kruger National Park.
Piecing together Liza’s footage, we see a pair of African wild dogs making their way down the H1-3. They were escorting their litter of 10 pups, presumably to a new den site.

In the cold, wet weather, the pups were very vocal. From the outset, it is obvious that the two adults are quite skittish.

As Liza explained, two hyenas were following the family and she assumed this explained the adults’ cautious behaviour. As attentive parents, the dogs kept the group together, frequently checking their surroundings for danger.

As their presumed concerns about the hyenas grew, the two adults left the entire litter on the road to investigate. Instinctively, the pups sought shelter in the long grass at the roadside.

Later, when the adults returned, it appeared that they decided to reverse course. They may have chosen to return to the old den site.

Subsequently, the parents again left their pups unattended. As they followed, Liza was shocked when she saw a lion on the road ahead.

One of the adults was alarmed at the sight of the lion on the road ahead. Then, as they got closer, they saw the unthinkable.

To their horror, what looked like one of the pups was lying on the road, presumably dead, with a lion nearby. Next, to the dismay of all present, the little dog got to its feet and tried to run away from the lion. In disbelief, the lion stalked after it.

Subsequently, the tiny dog bravely turned to ward off its enemy. All present waited with bated breath, hoping for a miracle. However, with an instinct to eliminate all competitors, the lion was not merciful. It picked up the squealing pup before dropping it in the grass.

There, it lay down for a while. Obscured in the long grass, the pup cries out as its fate is sealed.

Around this time, Liza began to suspect that the lion on the right had also caught one of the pups. Regardless, the two lions soon moved on.

While this was happening, the two adult dogs were seen running around in the long grass. Frantically searching for their missing pups, they leapt from place to place trying to locate them.

While Liza and her partner watched, she says the distraught parents did not find any of their pups. Sadly, she was able to confirm that two of the pups lay dead in the grass.

At this time, the fate of the remaining youngsters is unknown. Given how endangered African wild dogs are, we can only hope that the family was later reunited.

As brutal as the outcome of this incident was, it is a stark reminder of the competition that exists among Africa’s predators. All predators, when given the chance, will kill the offspring of their rivals.

The reasons for doing so include eliminating competition for resources, exerting dominance and status, as well as territorial aggression. If food is scarce, they may kill other predators for food.

Deon’s series of video clips began by setting the scene. A large pride of twenty lions lay spread out on the bank of a dry riverbed.

The pride consists of a mature male, several lionesses and cubs of various ages. Renowned for their strength, both individually and collectively, you would think that nothing would disturb their late morning nap.

While most of the pride rested peacefully, three of them either heard or smelt something that got their attention. Moving away from the group, they went to investigate.

Subsequently, rising up from the riverbed, appeared a young, lone elephant bull.

On reaching maturity, male elephants leave their natal herds, so this was not unusual in itself. But more about that later.

As the oversized gate-crasher came into view, the three lions tensed up. Lions are known to prey on lone elephants in some places, but seldom in Kruger Park.

And it would be no different on this day. Seeing that the bull was heading directly towards them, the three lions gave way.

It was clear that the elephant was well aware of the lions’ presence. Ears flared and head held upright, the bull lengthened his stride as he made straight towards them.

When he got within twenty metres of the pride, he pulled up to assess the situation. And, to give the big cats a chance to leave of their own accord.

In response, some members of the pride got to their feet and sauntered off. Meanwhile, others remained where they were, not ready to exert themselves until the bull made his next move.

Not impressed by the lions’ failure to give way immediately, the elephant took things up a notch. Showing surprising acceleration, the bull charged, trumpeting loudly as he did.

Every member of the pride, from the dominant male to the youngest cub, immediately took off in the opposite direction.

Soon enough, the elephant decided that he had made his point. Pulling up, once again, he tracked the movement of a lioness who had splintered from the pride in the chaos.

Later, satisfied that she too did not dispute his supremacy, the bull ripped up a tussock of grass to chew on.

Apparently not liking the taste of his snack, he promptly wandered off.
As for the lions, seeing their tormentor waddle off without a care in the world, they soon returned to where they had lain earlier.

If lions could talk, you can be sure none of them was about to mention anything about being ‘king of the jungle’.

In both lion and elephant communities, adult males play little to no role in raising their offspring. Their contribution in this respect is limited to security and DNA. In both instances, when they reach sexual maturity, they are forced (generally by dominant males in the area) to leave their mothers.
Usually, they will band with other males to form bachelor groups or alliances, from which they derive mutual protection. This affords them an environment in which to grow stronger and wiser, thereby enhancing their chances of reproductive success when fully matured.

No doubt, this young bull’s experience will have helped build his confidence, shaping his character for a long life ahead.

When a hungry lion pride targeted a defenseless baby buffalo, things should have been over quickly. But, luckily, the very protective mother buffalo was still around and kept bashing the lions off her calf.
Not only that! The bravery of the mother buffalo gave the rest of the buffaloes the courage to come and join her rescue mission!

When a group of vultures tried to steal a lion’s leftovers, they didn’t expect to become the meal themselves. One of them got a nasty surprise when a lioness came out of nowhere, showing off her incredible jumping skills.
Jaun Slabbert from Kruger National Park