From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lion
The lion (Panthera leo) is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight,[4] it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with an endangered remnant population in Gir Forest National Park in India, having disappeared from North Africa and Southwest Asia in historic times. Until the late Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans. They were found in most of Africa, across Eurasia from western Europe to India, and in the Americas from the Yukon to Peru.[5] The lion is a vulnerable species, having seen a possibly irreversible population decline of thirty to fifty percent over the past two decades in its African range.[2] Lion populations are untenable outside designated reserves and national parks. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are currently the greatest causes of concern. Within Africa, the West African lion population is particularly endangered.
Lions live for ten to fourteen years in the wild, while in captivity they can live longer than twenty years. In the wild, males seldom live longer than ten years, as injuries sustained from continual fighting with rival males greatly reduce their longevity.[6] They typically inhabit savanna and grassland, although they may take to bush and forest. Lions are unusually social compared to other cats. A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. Lions are apex and keystone predators, although they scavenge as opportunity allows. While lions do not typically hunt humans, some have been known to do so.
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Friday, March 30, 2012
African Lion
Thursday, March 29, 2012
i-light marina bay - 5QU1D by Ryf Zaini
i-light marina bay - 5QU1D by Ryf Zaini , originally uploaded by Pappu | Photography Love :: NIKON.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
i Light Marina Bay
i Light Marina Bay (simplified Chinese: 照亮滨海湾), held from 15 October to 7 November 2010 in Marina Bay, Singapore, is Asia’s first sustainable light art festival. It is presented by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and organised by Smart Light Singapore (SLS), founded by Mary-Anne Kyriakou (who is the festival director). It is part of Marina Bay Invitations 2010, a series of events planned to promote Marina Bay as a vibrant venue and a destination for a brand new live-work-play experience.
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5QU1D
Introduction
An engineering graduate from Temasek Polytechnic, Ryf Zaini’s interest in the arts led him to LASALLE College of the Arts, where he completed a diploma in interactive media and graduated with first class honours in media arts. Ryf has since participated in several exhibitions for which he has created hybrids of technologically-informed art.
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Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Proboscis monkey
Shot
Single shot on tripod
Camera : NIKON D700
Lens : 150-500 mm f/5-6.3 sigma
Shutter speed : 1/160 sec
Flash : Did not fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Proboscis monkey
The proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) or long-nosed monkey, known as the bekantan in Malay, is a reddish-brown arboreal Old World monkey that is endemic to the south-east Asian island of Borneo. It belongs in the monotypic genus Nasalis, although the pig-tailed langur has traditionally also been included in this genus - a treatment still preferred by some.
The monkey also goes by the Malay name monyet belanda ("Dutch monkey"), or even orang belanda ("Dutchman"), as Indonesians remarked that the Dutch colonisers often had a similarly large belly and nose.
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Sunday, March 18, 2012
Grey Crowned Crane
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Single shot on tripod
Camera : NIKON D700
Lens : 150-500 mm f/5-6.3 sigma
Shutter speed : 1/1000 sec
Flash : Fired
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grey Crowned Crane
The Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats. This animal does not migrate.
There are two subspecies. The East African B. r. gibbericeps (Crested Crane) occurs from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda, of which it is the national bird, and Kenya to eastern South Africa. It has a larger area of bare red facial skin above the white patch than the smaller nominate species, B. r. regulorum (South African Crowned Crane), which breeds from Angola south to South Africa.
This species and the closely related Black Crowned Crane are the only cranes that can roost in trees, because of a long hind toe that can grasp branches. This habit, amongst other things, is a reason why the relatively small Balearica cranes are believed to closely resemble the ancestral members of the Gruidae.
The Grey Crowned Crane has a breeding display involving dancing, bowing, and jumping. It has a booming call which involves inflation of the red gular sac. It also makes a honking sound quite different from the trumpeting of other crane species.
The nest is a platform of grass and other plants in tall wetland vegetation. The Grey Crowned Crane lays a clutch of 2-5 eggs. Incubation is performed by both sexes and lasts 28–31 days. Chicks fledge at 56–100 days.
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Saturday, March 17, 2012
White rhinoceros
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Single shot on tripod
Camera : NIKON D700
Lens : 150-500 mm f/5-6.3 sigma
Shutter speed : 1/60 sec
Flash : Did not fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
White rhinoceros
The white rhinoceros or square-lipped rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is one of the five species of rhinoceros that still exist. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhino consists of two subspecies: the southern white rhino, with an estimated 17,460 wild-living animals at the end of 2007 (IUCN 2008), and the much rarer northern white rhino. The northern species has very few remaining, all in captivity.
Naming
A popular theory of the origins of the name "white rhinoceros" is a mistranslation from Dutch to English. The English word "white" is said to have been derived by mistranslation of the Dutch word "wijd", which means "wide" in English. The word "wide" refers to the width of the rhinoceros' mouth. So early English-speaking settlers in South Africa misinterpreted the "wijd" for "white" and the rhino with the wide mouth ended up being called the white rhino and the other one, with the narrow pointed mouth, was called the Black Rhinoceros. Ironically, Dutch (and Afrikaans) later used a calque of the English word, and now also call it a white rhino. This suggests the origin of the word was before codification by Dutch writers. A review of Dutch and Afrikaans literature about the rhinoceros has failed to produce any evidence that the word wijd was ever used to describe the rhino outside of oral use.[4] Other popular theories suggest the name comes from its wide appearance throughout Africa, its color due to wallowing in calcareous soil or bird droppings or because of the lighter colour of its horn. An alternative name for the white rhinoceros, more accurate but rarely used, is the square-lipped rhinoceros. The white rhinoceros' generic name, Ceratotherium, given by the zoologist John Edward Gray in 1868,[5] is derived from the Greek terms keras (κερας) "horn" and therion (θηριον) "beast". Simum, is derived from the Greek term simus (σιμος), meaning "flat nosed".
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Cottontop tamarin
Shot
Single shot on tripod
Camera : NIKON D700
Lens : 150-500 mm f/5-6.3 sigma
Shutter speed : 1/125 sec
Flash : Fired
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cottontop tamarin
The cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus), also known as the Pinché tamarin, is a small New World monkey weighing less than 1 lb (0.5 kg). It is found in tropical forest edges and secondary forests where it is arboreal and diurnal.
Etymology
In German-speaking areas, the cottontop tamarin is commonly known as "Lisztaffe" (literally "Liszt monkey") most likely due to the resemblance of its hairstyle with that of Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso Franz Liszt.
Physical characteristics
This tamarin species has a long sagittal crest, white hairs from forehead to nape flowing over the shoulders ("Cottontop"). The back is brown, and the underparts, arms and legs are whitish-yellow. The rump and inner thighs are reddish-orange.
It is considered one of the bare-faced tamarins because of the lack of facial hair. Its lower canine teeth are longer than its incisors, so it seems as if it has small tusks. It is about the size of a squirrel and weighs 10-18 ounces.[citation needed] The males are only slightly larger than females. A medium cottontop tamarin weighs 432 g.[5] Tamarins are among the smallest of the primates. Head body length of this species is 17 cm and tail length is 25 cm.[6] Forelimbs are shorter than the hind limbs. The thumb is not opposable and the tail is not prehensile. All the finger and toe nails are like claws except for the big toe which has a flat nail.
Communication
The cottontop tamarin vocalizes with birdlike whistles, soft chirping sounds, high-pitched trilling, and staccato calls. Researchers say its repertoire of 38 distinct sounds is unusually sophisticated, conforming to grammatical rules and able to express curiosity, fear, dismay, playfulness, warnings, joy, and calls to young.[6] It has loud territorial songs as well as songs when it is excited. It moves its tongue across the lips. This may be a recognition signal, or could be used to communicate anger or curiosity. A "threat face" consists of lowering the forehead until it forms a bulge which almost covers the eyes; the lips are pushed forward and the head and neck crests are erected. This apparently is sufficient since no other body language is used.
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Thursday, February 23, 2012
Gita Jayanti 2011:: Singapore
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Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple Singapore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gita Jayanti
"Gita Jayanti" is the birthday of Bhagvad-Gita, the sacred text of the Hindus. It is celebrated on the 11th day of the waxing moon of Margaseersha month (December- January) in the Vedic almanac. It is believed the immortal "Bhagavad Gita" was revealed to Arjuna by Sri Krishna himself in the battlefield of Kurukshetra (in present day Haryana, India) a little over 5000 years ago. The text is written in third person, narrated by Sanjaya to King Dhritarashtra as it transpired between Sri Krishna and Arjuna. Sanjaya, the secretary of the blind King Dhritarashtra, had been blessed by his Guru, Vyasadev, with the power to remotely view the events taking place on the battlefield as they transpired. [ref. Bhagavad Gita Ch 18 Txt 75]
Background
Main article: Mahabharata
Main article: Kurukshetra war
The discourse of Bhagavad Gita took place just before the start of the Kurushektra war. This is the brief history prior to that:
After several attempts at reconciliation failed, war was inevitable. Out of pure compassion and sincere love for His devotee and best friend, Arjuna, Lord Krishna decided to become his charioteer during the battle. The day of the war finally came and both armies gathered on the battlefield face to face. Just as the battle was about to start, Arjuna asks Lord Krishna to drive the chariot to the middle of the battlefield in between both armies to have a look at the opposing armies. Seeing his Grandsire Bhishma who raised him with great affection since childhood, and his teacher Dronācārya who have trained him to become the greatest archer, Arjuna's heart begin to melt. His body started to tremble and his mind get confused. He became unable to perform his duty as a Kshatriya (warrior). He felt weak and sickened at the thought that he would have to kill his relatives, his friends and revered persons in this confrontation. Being very despondent, he told his friend Krishna of his sudden change of heart, and turned to Him for advice. The conversation that ensued, Lord Krishna's advice and teachings to Arjuna, is what is known now as the Bhagavad Gita, the most ancient scripture and non-sectarian philosophical work known to man.
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Single shot no tripod
Camera : NIKON D7005
Lens : 28.0-75.0 mm f/2.8 Tamron
Shutter speed : 1/400 sec
Flash : Fired
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