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<\/a><\/p>\nAnother lone wildebeest bull moving around in his territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe earth exists for all beings, not just human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n ~Unknown<\/p>\n We saw many topi in the western corridor. These antelope are a sub-species of a tsessebe. They look like hartebeest. Their coats have short hair and have a lovely sheen to them. The topi are very quick and if they see the predator in time they can usually out run them. The next image shows a topi flying with all four hooves off the ground.<\/p>\n Topi are incredibly quick and have been known to reach speeds in excess of 80kms per hour. They also show off their strength and prowess with stiff legged prances like a lipazzaner and bound on all fours, like gazelles.<\/p>\n \u201cTo watch a Topi lope, then dash and race, and pronk and prance, reveals a sense of power and joy well beyond the pure flight response.\u201d<\/p>\n ~Mike Haworth<\/p>\n The topi has a striking reddish-brown body colour and distinct black patches on its face and just above its leg joints and greyish shoulders and flanks.<\/p>\n Topis are gregarious but when one male intrudes on another male\u2019s territory, the two go down on their knees to fight with their horns in what becomes a pushing match to establish dominance.<\/p>\n Male topis have their own territories which they mark with dung and they also mark grass stems in their area with a secretion from their preorbital gland. The can stand on these mounds for a long time trying to be noticed.<\/p>\n \u201cBe curious not judgmental.\u201d<\/p>\n ~Walt Whitman<\/p>\n One of the herbivores which does not migrate is the buffalo. We found a few large herds in the Western Corridor. Presumably this is what keeps the lions going through the lean phase from August to May.<\/p>\n This is a strong animal with attitude. Buffalo will always look directly at you and lift their head and look down their noses at you. This was one of the bulls protecting the one flank of the herd. He was not about to take any nonsense from anything.<\/p>\n \u201cNature\u2019s drama is never the same. Expect the unexpected it is sometimes low down, sometimes high up, sometimes fast, and sometimes slow. Each time mother nature reveals a little more, and each time you get a sense of how much you have still to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n ~Mike Haworth<\/p>\n Another herbivore which does not migrate is the Masai giraffe. Giraffe have different patterns much like a fingerprint, but giraffe in certain regions have a particular patterntype.<\/p>\n This was bull giraffe using his full extension to browse on his favoured part of the tree.<\/p>\n Another group of Masai giraffe seen on the way to Nyasiriro plains. It is not often you see giraffe lying down but this individual must have felt secure because it could not get up quickly if there was a threat.<\/p>\n A family group of Masai giraffe down the road passed the Grumeti landing strip.<\/p>\n A single female eland down near the water pool dammed by the road embankment. Eland are very wary and will normally walk or run away from a vehicle. This must have been a young adult judging from its size and the size of its dewlap, the flap of skin below its neck.<\/p>\n Grant\u2019s gazelle are bigger with lighter colouring and have no dark brown side stripe like the Thompson\u2019s gazelle.<\/p>\n Wildebeest and Thompson\u2019s gazelle grazing together on the open plain.<\/p>\n