#ngala

Leopard Couple at Kruger National Park, South Africa by Paul Fernandez Via Flickr: Details best viewed in Original Size This image was actually captured at the Ngala Safari Lodge, a track of land, formerly a ranch, and gifted to the World Wildlife Fund by the previous owner. The safari lodge, adjacent to Kruger National Park (and totally open to the park) is a concession run by &Beyond for the benefit of the land, the wildlife, and the surrounding community.  The leopard is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because leopard populations are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and are declining in large parts of the global range. In Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait, Syria, Libya, Tunisia and most likely in Morocco, leopards have already been extirpated. Leopards are hunted illegally, and their body parts are smuggled in the wildlife trade for medicinal practices and decoration.

African Savanna Elephant Apollo on his Way at Kruger National Park, South Africa by D200-PAUL -- Taking Week Off Via Flickr: Best viewed Large on Black The image was actually captured at the Ngala Safari Lodge, a track of land, formerly a ranch, and gifted to the World Wildlife Fund by the previous owner. The safari lodge, adjacent to Kruger National Park (and totally open to the park) is a concession run by &Beyond for the benefit of the land, the wildlife, and the surrounding community. It was late in the afternoon (the golden hour) and we were traveling down a dried up river bed in search of an elephant herd which had been seen in this area earlier by the people in another safari vehicle. Within the herd of several dozen elephants was Apollo, not his official name, but the one given to him by the locals. Ross, our guide, said that Apollo had the longest tusks that anyone around there had seen in quite some time and that he was estimated to be about 45 years old. Although he clearly had the biggest tusks, he wasn't the biggest elephant in the herd. He wasn't even the biggest elephant in this image. Not only was the female up on the river bank visibly bigger, so were most of the older females in the herd. African Savanna Elephant Apollo on his Way at Kruger National Park, South Africa