The female...Gestation lasts seven months. A single calf is born, weighing 5 kg (11 lb)
And the male which are threatened due to the high demand as hunting game...
Knysna Turaco or Knysna Lourie: South African Indigenous
These are the only birds that are truly red and green, unlike most birds in which the color observed is a reflection produced by the feather structure.
They maintain their colors throughout the year.
The red pigment (turacin) and green pigment (turacoverdin) both contain copper; these pigments disolve in water turning it pink if feathers are stirred in it.
The pigments colors deepen with age due to the copper oxidizing.
Most of its population inhabits coastal Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal
Plum-Coloured or Amethyst Starling
They live in savannah woodlands and riverine forests in sexually segregated flocks, which follow the the trees fruit cycles. They weight around 45 gr.
Females which don´t have the males iridescent plumage, incubate for 12-14 days 2-4 eggs.
These birds are monogamous and build together the nest in tree holes and hollow fence posts with green leaves and other materials.
BushMan´s HoLe: South Africa
Boesmansgat or Bushman's Hole, located in Mount Carmel Game Farm in the Northern Cape, is the third world's deepest submerged freshwater
cave or sinkhole.
Its precise depth size still needs to be verified...
The cave is located at an altitude of 5000 feet (1550 m) above sea level
On the 24 of November, 2004 Verna van Schaik established the existing Guinness Woman's World Record for the deepest dive: 221 meters (725ft).
Nuno Gomes a South African scuba diver, holds the official current Guinness World Record for the deepest cave dive in Bushman´s cave to a depth of 927 feet (282.6 m), in 1996.
Two scuba divers have died there:
The cave is located at an altitude of 5000 feet (1550 m) above sea level
1994 Deon Dreyer a South African diver helping set up Nuno Gomes´ Guinness World Record dive.
2005 David Shaw, an Australian scuba diver who found in 2004 Dreyer´s missing body and died trying to recover it.
Leopard Tortoise: South African
It´s the fourth largest tortoise in the world, the biggest can weight up to 54 kg (120 pound) and measure 70 cm (28 inches).
This herbivore can live between 80-100 years and stay underwater for 10 minutes; it is also a very good climber!
Manfred Mann: South African Musician
Manfred Mann is a Johannesburg´s music graduate. He started as a jazz pianist before he created the first rock and roll band in South Africa (The Vikings).
Because he strongly rejected apartheid, he moved to the U.K.
Manfred Mann was very succesful in the ´60s and later in the ´70´s under the name of Manfred Mann´s Earth Band seen always behind the keybords.
Jennifer Maestre: South African Artist
Her inspiration is the sea urchin. Jennifer Maestre uses all kinds of pencils which she cuts in 1 inch sections, then they are sewn together after drilling through them.
"Aurora"
Check out her whole portfolio here:
Sunland Baobab
This Baobab is located on Sunland Farm in the Limpopo Province. It´s 22 m high, and around 47 m in circumference. The SA Dendrological Society dates it with aproximately 6000 years oF age and as the biggest of its species!.
In1993 the Van Heerdens cleared out the hollow centre of the tree, uncovering the floor about a meter below ground level, founding evidence of both Bushmen and Voortrekkers.
In
They made a door and installed a railway sleeper pub inside the trunk lodging up to 60 people!. A wine cellar was installed in a second hollow.
African Bushman believe that the god Thora disliked the Baobab growing in his garden, so he threw it to Earth below, but even though the tree landed upside-down it continued to grow...
They believe that any person who plucks the flowers (which bloom at night), will be torn apart by lions, because there are spirits in the flowers.
They also think that if you drink the water in which the Baobab’s pips have been soaked, this serves as protection from crocodiles.
Women living in kraals where Baobabs are abundant have more children than those living outside baobab zones, because they eat soup made from its leaves (rich in vitamins), which compensate for any deficiencies in their diet
Baobabs are also vital to elephants, monkeys and baboons that depend on its fruit (the vitamin C content of one fruit = 4 oranges).
Bats pollinate Baobabs, by crashing into the flowers while chasing insects.
Bush babies or galagos (Otolemur crassicaudatus) also spread the pollen which can be used as glue!
The seeds, rich in protein, calcium, oil and phosphates, can be roasted and grounded like coffee and young leaves are also high in calcium.
The fibrous trunk can be woven into rope mats and paper. Beer and tea can be made from the bark!.
South African Endemic TrapDoor Spider
Honoring former South African President Nelson Mandela, this spider was discovered in the Great Fish River Reserve (Eastern Cape Province) in 2004, by zoologists Brent E. Hendrixson and Jason E Bond.
Watch a TrapDoor spider in action...
GianT SpinY-TaiLed Lizard: South African Endemic
The Giant Girdled Lizard, Sungazer (because it faces the sun while it thermoregulates itself), Giant Spiny-Tailed Lizard or Giant Zonure, is the largest of the Cordylus species.
Afrikaans call it Ouvolk, Zulu people Mvedhla and in Sotho is named Patagaly or Pagataly.
Afrikaans call it Ouvolk, Zulu people Mvedhla and in Sotho is named Patagaly or Pagataly.
It lives in its excavated burrows and reproduces only every two or three years producing just one or two offsprings! It can measure up to 37 cm. Learn more by watching this video...
It was the 2010 South African World Cup and german magazine AIT decided to launch Project "Xhosa" Charity Chair, which consisted on the re-designing of Matthias Weber´s ONO chair, initiative followed by 120 european architects and designers.
The re-designed chairs were sold in an auction in Berlin that year and the profits obtained supported the Guga S´Thebe cultural centre and AIDS orphanage in the Langa Township in Cape Town, South Africa.
The patterns used for the perforations were inspired by those used in traditional Xhosa face painting still widely used.
The chairs were exhibited in a travelling exhibition in Munich, Hamburg, London, Rotterdam and Kortrijk.
The chairs were exhibited in a travelling exhibition in Munich, Hamburg, London, Rotterdam and Kortrijk.
Table Mountain Ghost Frog: S. African Endemic
This indigenous critically endangered frog, is also known as Rose´s Ghost Frog.
It´s got 17 rows of posterior labial teeth and the tadpoles (that can develop for a year) also climb steep wet rock!
The males have several small black spines on the outside of their back, forearms and on the top of the hind legs.
Giant Eagle Owl: South Africa
For Videos and Photos Click:
http://www.arkive.org/giant-eagle-owl/bubo-lacteus/video-01.html and
http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/strigidae/bubo_lacteus.htm
This is the third heaviest owl in the world and the largest of Africa. It mates for life and can be found in altitudes of up to 3.000 metres (9.800 ft), in dry savannahs, semi deserts and riverine forest!
It feeds mainly on the Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris),
The Scrub Hare (Lepus saxatilis),
and the Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) amongst others...
http://www.arkive.org/giant-eagle-owl/bubo-lacteus/video-01.html and
http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/strigidae/bubo_lacteus.htm
This is the third heaviest owl in the world and the largest of Africa. It mates for life and can be found in altitudes of up to 3.000 metres (9.800 ft), in dry savannahs, semi deserts and riverine forest!
It feeds mainly on the Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris),
The Scrub Hare (Lepus saxatilis),
and the Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) amongst others...
Vladimir Tretchikoff: Triumph in S. Africa
"Express your passion, do whatever you love, take action, no matter what".
That was the motto of a self taught russian artist with an amazing life: He fled Siberia and went to China escaping the Russian 1917 revolution.
During World War II he was on a boat for three weeks without food, after his ship was bombed and then he was imprisoned by the japanese.
He lost contact with his wife and daughter and thinking they were dead he took a lover, but they weren't dead... they got back together again in Cape Town!
The First Wife of a Zulu Chief
The Herb Seller
(£50,000 - 80,000 - US$ 76,000 - 120,000)
.jpg)
Thanks to his work in South Africa he captivated the american and english public of his time, becoming hugely successful in spite of his critics who nicknamed him "The King of Kitsch".
After his death the Tretchikoff Trust was established which provides workshops for teenagers throughout South Africa.
That was the motto of a self taught russian artist with an amazing life: He fled Siberia and went to China escaping the Russian 1917 revolution.
During World War II he was on a boat for three weeks without food, after his ship was bombed and then he was imprisoned by the japanese.
He lost contact with his wife and daughter and thinking they were dead he took a lover, but they weren't dead... they got back together again in Cape Town!
Lady of Ndebele
The First Wife of a Zulu Chief
The Herb Seller
(£50,000 - 80,000 - US$ 76,000 - 120,000)
.jpg)
Thanks to his work in South Africa he captivated the american and english public of his time, becoming hugely successful in spite of his critics who nicknamed him "
After his death the Tretchikoff Trust was established which provides workshops for teenagers throughout South Africa.
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