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Who's Been To Africa?

Israel Amnon242 Offline
Tiger Enthusiast
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#76

Excellent! Perhaps you could start a special threa for your trip
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United States Pckts Offline
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#77

(09-22-2016, 01:06 AM)Shardul Wrote: Keep them coming @Pckts , nice images!

Btw, thank you for all your advice. I also received some nice tips from Shaji Mohammed on aperture, but without your initial guidance, finding a camera would of been much harder for me. I'll make sure to post much more tomorrow. Thanks again
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India sanjay Offline
Co-owner of Wildfact
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#78

@Pckts, Nice images
However, Post your experience in related thread, if one does not exist please make a new one. I have just created a thread for Serengeti national park, http://wildfact.com/forum/topic-wildlife...ional-park

Please re-post your Serengeti experience in this thread. And make new similar thread for other parks in same section (http://wildfact.com/forum/forum-vacations-and-holidays) if it does not exist. In this way in future people will be able to share their visits in respective thread and hence reducing the fatness of this thread.
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Shardul Offline
Regular Member
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#79

(09-22-2016, 03:03 AM)Pckts Wrote:
(09-22-2016, 01:06 AM)Shardul Wrote: Keep them coming @Pckts , nice images!

Btw, thank you for all your advice. I also received some nice tips from Shaji Mohammed on aperture, but without your initial guidance, finding a camera would of been much harder for me. I'll make sure to post much more tomorrow. Thanks again

Glad I could be of any help @Pckts , although I would still consider myself an amateur. Regarding aperture, there is only so much you can do with the consumer lenses we use with small apertures. Sometimes I feel it's better to rent a fast lens than buy a cheaper slower lens.

Just a question, which mode did you operate the camera on?
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United States Pckts Offline
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#80
( This post was last modified: 09-22-2016, 07:19 PM by Pckts )

@Shardul
I was in aperture mode for 90% of the time, only at dusk would I switch to auto. I still don't quite get the trinity (aperture, shutter and iso) but I switched my iso to a  higher limit (400) and that seemed help out quite a bit.
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India sanjay Offline
Co-owner of Wildfact
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#81

@Pckts 
I have created the thread country wise, Now you can post all of your Tanzania trip there (http://wildfact.com/forum/topic-your-wil...nia-africa)
Make a demo post (write anything) in this thread, later I will transfer your posts from here to there (in place of demo). Make 2 demo post
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Shardul Offline
Regular Member
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#82

@Pckts When I was starting out, I tried using both the Shutter priority mode and the Aperture mode. What I observed is that on other semi-automatic modes (P & A), the camera would always choose a low SS to compensate the exposure, resulting in a lot of pictures getting motion blur in low light conditions. Once I got a hang of everything, I started using the manual exposure settings with ISO settings on automatic, with a limiter set on ISO 1600. We often don't have time to change the ISO settings since light conditions during a safari can change drastically in a short period of time. After a while, I realized I had been underestimating my camera's low light capacity since images at 4000 ISO were relatively noise free, so bumped the limiter to 4000. That is now my default setting, unless I am trying to deliberately under expose the photograph, or trying long exposure shots.
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United States Pckts Offline
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#83

Awesome info, I'll def make the adjustments. Thanks yet again.
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Shardul Offline
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#84

(09-22-2016, 07:52 PM)Pckts Wrote: Awesome info, I'll def make the adjustments. Thanks yet again.

Np Pckts. However, you should not do exaclty as I say, but test the limits of your camera and see how it handles high ISO. Then see what settings you mostly get to shoot on, and then make them your default settings.
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United States Pckts Offline
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#85
( This post was last modified: 05-14-2019, 12:13 AM by Pckts )

(09-10-2016, 03:12 PM)Pckts Wrote: Notes from shaji discussion

His opinions below:

Tigers are larger than lions.
Shivaji or Waghdoh are the largest tigers he's seen
Sri Lanken leopards are not the largest leopards, African leopards are.
Believes ustaad shouldn't have been removed
Asiatic lions are not exciting, they are very tame compared to their African counterparts due to the fd proceedures with them.
Munna is a normal sized tiger but very mellow with tourists.
Ranthambhore males aren't any larger than any other males he's seen.
He's photographed polar bears and Jaguars in the pantanal as well.
Went to the Sunderbans but couldn't photograph a tiger, it's really rare. Compared it to a 1/500 chance
The largest tigers he's seen are from Tadoba (Shivaji, wagdoh)

@Luipaard 
This was back when I believed Sri Lankan Leopards were possibly the Largest Leopards as well, but through discussions like this one and data analysis I've obviously come to a very different conclusion.
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Luipaard Offline
Leopard enthusiast
#86
( This post was last modified: 05-14-2019, 02:04 PM by Luipaard )

(05-14-2019, 12:12 AM)Pckts Wrote:
(09-10-2016, 03:12 PM)Pckts Wrote: Notes from shaji discussion

His opinions below:

Tigers are larger than lions.
Shivaji or Waghdoh are the largest tigers he's seen
Sri Lanken leopards are not the largest leopards, African leopards are.
Believes ustaad shouldn't have been removed
Asiatic lions are not exciting, they are very tame compared to their African counterparts due to the fd proceedures with them.
Munna is a normal sized tiger but very mellow with tourists.
Ranthambhore males aren't any larger than any other males he's seen.
He's photographed polar bears and Jaguars in the pantanal as well.
Went to the Sunderbans but couldn't photograph a tiger, it's really rare. Compared it to a 1/500 chance
The largest tigers he's seen are from Tadoba (Shivaji, wagdoh)

@Luipaard 
This was back when I believed Sri Lankan Leopards were possibly the Largest Leopards as well, but through discussions like this one and data analysis I've obviously come to a very different conclusion.

Well I myself have never said that Sri Lankan leopards were the biggest subspecies; they're one of the larger ones alongside the Persian leopard and rainforest leopard. Like I've mentioned before, they're basically a larger version of Indian leopards.

Persian leopards and rainforest leopards are hands down the largest of them all. Visual comparisons and skull measurements prove that. For example, large males from South Africa struggle to reach the average skull size of a Central African male...
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United States Pckts Offline
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#87

(05-14-2019, 11:48 AM)Luipaard Wrote:
(05-14-2019, 12:12 AM)Pckts Wrote:
(09-10-2016, 03:12 PM)Pckts Wrote: Notes from shaji discussion

His opinions below:

Tigers are larger than lions.
Shivaji or Waghdoh are the largest tigers he's seen
Sri Lanken leopards are not the largest leopards, African leopards are.
Believes ustaad shouldn't have been removed
Asiatic lions are not exciting, they are very tame compared to their African counterparts due to the fd proceedures with them.
Munna is a normal sized tiger but very mellow with tourists.
Ranthambhore males aren't any larger than any other males he's seen.
He's photographed polar bears and Jaguars in the pantanal as well.
Went to the Sunderbans but couldn't photograph a tiger, it's really rare. Compared it to a 1/500 chance
The largest tigers he's seen are from Tadoba (Shivaji, wagdoh)

@Luipaard 
This was back when I believed Sri Lankan Leopards were possibly the Largest Leopards as well, but through discussions like this one and data analysis I've obviously come to a very different conclusion.

Well I myself have never said that Sri Lankan leopards were the biggest subspecies; they're one of the larger ones alongside the Persian leopard and rainforest leopard. Like I've mentioned before, they're basically a larger version of Indian leopards.

Persian leopards and rainforest leopards are hands down the largest of them all. Visual comparisons and skull measurements prove that. For example, large males from South Africa struggle to reach the average skull size of a Central African male...

Actually I was the one who stated that and I also stated that you'd be surprised as to how they actually compare to Indian Leopards, I've heard they are no larger.

Considering Larger Skulls have came out of C. and E. Africa, I disagree that Persians and Rainforest Leopards are the "largest hands down."
Persians are definitely the Longest but their highest weights and skulls have been matched by African Leoapards.
But overall if you're comparing all of African Leopard's to Persian's then yes, Persians should be the largest subspecies. 

But in regards to Aberdare Leopards, I think there could be something there.
Not due to the lack of Lion presence, since Lions are still found there and existing in much higher numbers in the past. 
"The Kenya Wildlife Service has culled about 200 lions from the Aberdare range to protect the rare bongo species, which is threatened with extinction.
The Bongo population has dropped to just about 100 in the Aberdares, alarming conservationists.
The bongo is a rare, spiral horned antelope with a coat that is bright red with narrow cream stripes.
The Nation was unable to verify the exact number of lions so far culled or relocated. Sources put the figure at between 100 and 200.
The Aberdare National Park's chief warden, Mr Paul Gathitu, and the local head of research and planning, Mr Joseph Ruhiu, declined to comment. They referred the Nation to the KWS Headquarters."
https://www.nation.co.ke/news/1056-370516-l80xpxz/index.html

But more so due to the fact that Aberdare has rich volcanic soil, higher elevation, large prey biomass, cooler temps with heavy rain and usually some rain year round but with a huge variation of Ungulates and even the 2nd largest population of Black Rhinos.


The other place that matches these characteristics... Ngorongoro Crater.
And no surprise, the herbivores there are larger since they are able to feed of nutrient rich volcanic soil fed plants, the lions are heavier with a denser mane, the herds stay there year round and Lions prides live relatively close to one another.
Sri Lanka,  Congo Basin nor Iran check all of those boxes.

"Due to its high altitude, the park is very rainy and misty, with roads that become impassable during the wet season."

"The rich, red volcanic soil provides excellent growing conditions for the indigenous forest, and lies in stark contrast to both the forest and the mountain's rugged and beautiful peaks."

"There are 60km (37 miles) of primary roads and 396km (246 miles) of secondary roads, but they all become virtually impassable during the rainy season, which lasts from March to May, and to a lesser degree, from October to December. There is still some rainfall and mist year-round due to the high altitude of Aberdare."

Extreme conditions make up extreme examples, you need many different conditions to occur to create a unique individual and picking one piece of a larger pie doesn't tell the entire story. 


"A big male leopard shot in the Aberdare mountains of Kenya in 1968. The photo is from the book, "Shoot Straight and Stay Alive" by professional hunter Fred Bartlett. The skull of this leopard is listed in the Rowland Ward Records, measuring 273mm long and 178mm wide (17.75 inch total score). Bartlett said this was one of the biggest leopards he had seen in the mountain forests of Kenya with a heavily built body, he estimated its weight at 200 to 220lbs. Bartlett appears to be a reliable source and this was probably a genuine 180lb+ leopard. Any leopard with a skull measuring 17 inches or more should be considered huge.

As mentioned before, the leopards of the Rift Valley highland forests in East Africa were highly prized by trophy hunters. Of the leopard populations for which some appreciable data on weights has historically been recorded (ie. East/Southern Africa and India) these East African mountain leopards are IMO the most impressive. Apart from Iran where a few 200lb leopards have now been recorded most genuine 200lbers recorded historically have come from the highland forests of East Africa. The heaviest being a 212lb leopard with a 18.76 inch skull shot on Mt Kenya in 1964 which is probably the heaviest leopard reliably recorded in my opinion. PH Hamilton who carried out much research on leopards in Kenya gives a weight range for male highland forest leopards in the country as 60-95kg, the upper limit probably being derived from this specimen."


*This image is copyright of its original author


As you can see here, the sizes of the Aberdare Leopard still directly coincide with other Leopards throughout Africa that have been hunted. 
You can pretty much assume that the weights stated above are a bit high since we already know leopards with larger skull scores who have weighed 86kg.


And from the looks of the few photos of Recent Aberdare Leopards I could find, they seem to fit nicely.

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And even if you removed Lions from the equation, the Aberdare Park still has a very healthy population of Hyena and AWD.


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Again this is why Aberdare is not only able to support Leopard, Hyena, AWD and Lions but it also supports the 2nd largest population of Black Rhinos, Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Zebra, Giant Forest Hog, Warthog and Bongo to name a few.


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Forest Hog^

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Lastly, the King.

? Adithya Venkatesan

? Aberdare National Park





This is the difference between places like this and Iran or the Congo Basin, it's just a completely different world. It's also why I give more credence to the claims of the Largest Leopards being found here and other parts of Africa over anywhere else.
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Luipaard Offline
Leopard enthusiast
#88
( This post was last modified: 05-15-2019, 02:02 PM by Luipaard )

@Pckts 


Quote:Actually I was the one who stated that and I also stated that you'd be surprised as to how they actually compare to Indian Leopards, I've heard they are no larger.


As I've mentioned before; they're larger than Indian leopards but not in the same league as Persian or rainforest leopards.

As far as I know, there are measurements of 10 adult male leopard skulls from Sri Lanka from scientific sources. The average greatest length and width for these is 239mm and 153mm. This is a bit larger than the average for adult male skulls from India (233mm x 150mm, n=16) and Southern Africa (231mm x 145mm, n=18). The biggest Sri Lankan leopard skull from this sample in terms of total score is from the Bilhulaya area (central highlands) which measured 16.02" (246mm x 161mm). None of the skulls in the available data appear to be from Yala, 4 of them are from Wilpattu NP where leopards are smaller. Interestingly, the 2 skulls from the central highlands were also the 2 biggest in the sample. 

I know you don't like this comparison (different angle, etc). But this is what a large male from Yala looks like next to a South African male. The South African male on the left was a large one named Mvula.


*This image is copyright of its original author



Quote:Considering Larger Skulls have came out of C. and E. Africa, I disagree that Persians and Rainforest Leopards are the "largest hands down." Persians are definitely the Longest but their highest weights and skulls have been matched by African Leoapards. But overall if you're comparing all of African Leopard's to Persian's then yes, Persians should be the largest subspecies.


No? I have shared the top skull measurements many, many times before. The Central African leopards dominate the list alongside the Persian leopards. Same goes for the weight chart where multiple males weighed above 85kg, 3 even above the infamous 90kg barrier (excluding the also infamous 115kg male).

More skull measurements:


*This image is copyright of its original author

In the paper Status assessment of the Persian leopard (Panthera pardus) in Iran, Sanei gives the average length and width of skulls as 244 and 162mm.

Regarding Kenya;

One of the key ingredients definitely has to be the lack or lower density of larger competitors (ie. lions and tigers). Prey abundance and prey size/robustness along with climate are also important factors. In East Africa, the largest leopards are from mountainous regions which tend to be heavily forested. Thus in these areas they too can be expected to have had much reduced interaction with lions even historically. Although lions certainly did inhabit the East African mountains they would've largely been concentrated in the more open areas as opposed to the dense rainforests. The forest/savanna mosaic environment in these areas would have allowed much greater spatial separation between lions and leopards at a local level than in the savanna bushveld environment in the lowlands. PH Hamilton also vattributes the large size of highland forest leopards (from Aberdares and Mt Kenya area) to plentiful prey and few lions in their environment.

Here's a huge leopard shot by G. Munn on Mt Kenya in 1961 which measured 8'2" long, weighed 212lbs and had an 18.75" skull (length+width).


*This image is copyright of its original author


Here's a big male from Masai Mara, Kenya. Large skull and huge dewlap


*This image is copyright of its original author
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United States Pckts Offline
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#89

Sri Lankan Leopards measured have smaller body dimensions than the Indians measured and their weights are average, it doesnt matter what their skulls are, their body size tells the whole story. Again I'm specifically speaking on Yala Leopards when I discuss them with others and they are the ones that are said to be smaller than Africans and similar size to Indians. 

Largest Skull dimensions have absolutely been surpassed by numerous African Leopards, weights all matched as well.
I've posted numerous ones with higher scores which you've already seen.
In fact, the Aberdare Leopard posted has a smaller skull score than a few Leopards I posted and once again none 100kg.

Aberdare is a completely different ecosystem with large amounts of competition and prey to supplement it. 
Lions exist there and did so in higher numbers in the past just like lions all over, their numbers have began to drop but they still exist there in smaller numbers. But once again, Aberdare has many factors not seen in the Congo Basin, Iran or Sri Lanka. Just compare prey biomass of the 3, its not close.
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Canada Charan Singh Offline
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#90

Well I have stayed for more than 18 months in 3 countries of Africa in DRC, Nigeria and Ghana.


African people are helpful, caring & honest in general especially DRC & Ghana.

In 2012, I stopped in Kenya for two days and visited Nairobi national park.
Sharing those pics and few other pics that my brother had captured while he was in Kenya.

Few things I remember are: 
1. I saw a lion on the morning patrol, didn't remember to capture him while he was on safari cab tracks, but captured him when he was in the bushes.
He was huge, lean and fit - by huge I mean in comparison to lions I have seen in orphanage, or in zoos.
Lions in orphanage and zoos were stocky & short.
(I not able to find the photograph of that lion, and will post once I find it and few others)

2. Giraffes, ostriches & antelopes were everywhere.

3. Zebra & buffaloes were surprisingly small for me, but African buffaloes are more muscular.
I know Indian domestic buffaloes & horses quite well.
Zebra is slightly bigger than a donkey.

Pics from the trip (I put watermark of JasMihir on all my pics):

Lone Giraffe


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These two were towards the end of the trip.


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Wild hens at waterhole


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Antelopes


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Lone antelope


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Termite castle



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Safari track


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Lone Lioness (Pic by my brother)


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Lone Baobab tree from Ghana 2018


*This image is copyright of its original author
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