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"           Animal Psychology and the Land Rover   As detailed in our on tires, Pirelli introduced its P Zero Nero ultra-high-performance tire in South Africa. What&amp;#039;s more, our North American contingent stayed on and had the thrill of a lifetime at MalaMala Game Reserve.   MalaMala is an absolutely fabulous venue for seeing, tracking and photographing African wildlife, including the &amp;quot;Big Five,&amp;quot; the Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion and Rhinoceros. And, sure enough, within minutes of our landing at its little airstrip (the plane buzzed it once to ward off warthogs), Ranger Dave McKenzie and his Tracker Phillemon Mkhabela had our open Land Rover surrounded by a herd of some 150 Cape Buffalo. We encountered the other four of the Big Five within that first day as well.   Amazing. I shot the accompanying photos with my Nikon 995; its 4x zoom, the equivalent of a 35-mm camera&amp;#039;s 152-mm lens and hence not all that long. Indeed, there were times when a wide-angle would have been more useful.   The animals, even predators like lions and leopards, went about their business showing remarkable indifference to our presence. Dave warned that we were to stay within the , not wave arms or cameras about and, when particularly close to animals, talk in low voices.   It was amazing nonetheless. And it got me thinking \u2014 and asking Dave \u2014 about animal psychology. MalaMala Rangers, by the way, all have university degrees in appropriate fields and are really knowledgeable. The animals, he told me, regard the Land Rover as a big green rock that moves. They&amp;#039;ve learned that it doesn&amp;#039;t threaten them and, conversely, they show very little interest in it.   Sometimes, Even Big Green Rocks Have to Give Way   There are exceptions, however. Black rhinos are notoriously aggressive \u2014 and their eyesight isn&amp;#039;t much either. (Did you know black and white rhinos are both tawny gray; the &amp;quot;white&amp;quot; is a misnomer for weit, Dutch: &amp;quot;wide,&amp;quot; contrasting their snout with the more narrow black rhino&amp;#039;s.)   Also, special care is taken with male elephants in must. You know the type; they like to knock down trees just for fun.   Last, any animal is dangerous if it feels threatened or \u2014 especially \u2014 if its youngsters appear so. Our one encounter of this sort occurred with a herd of elephants. First, a teenage male ambled out of the bush, in a loose-limbed way, and blocked our path. Dave recognized that he was just showing off his tattoos and body piercings, and we stood our ground.   Then Momma came out and prodded Sonny up the road. (Animals, we learned, often prefer the dirt roads to the bush. Less energy is spent in transit. And, for predators, it&amp;#039;s less noisy.) But back to Momma: When Baby came onto the road, she decided our big green rock was too close. She faced us squarely, her flapping ears changed from cooling mode to confrontational \u2014 and she took four quick steps toward our Land Rover.   Sensing this was about to happen \u2014 and already in reverse \u2014 Dave popped the clutch and dug out backwards. We moved about 20 ft. and stopped. Momma recognized that the big green rock had given way, and she went on with her life.   Trust is a compelling thing. The animals have come to trust the big green rocks. And, of course, visitors put their absolute trust in rangers and trackers with extraordinary experience and knowledge of the African bush. It was magic, pure magic. For more information: MalaMala Game Reserve, Private Bag X284, Hillcrest 3650, South Africa; telephone: 27 31 765 2900; fax: 27 31 765 3365; . "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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