Dance of Dominance

 On one of our morning game drives, we were lucky enough to come across this sighting. Giraffe are not territorial and have to develop a local status hierarchy. This is established through ritual necking encounters by the bachelors. Duels will not be violent unless one has two equally matched males fighting over the same cow. As seen in the clip this happens whilst the males stand side on, head to rump, trying to thrust their necks sideways making well-placed blows to the opponent’s body. These blows are extremely powerful and can do severe damage. The opponent will try to avoid blows and reciprocate the attacks, and so the rhythmical dance plays out.

By Ranger Jacques