About the Author

Nic Martin

Ranger

Nic grew up in Johannesburg, where frequent trips to his family’s reserve and visits to various other reserves sparked his interest in the African bush. His father, a former guide, and his grandmother, a conservationist, nurtured his early dream of becoming a guide. ...

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6 Comments

on Neck to Neck: A Giraffe Showdown in the Golden Hour

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Awesome! Giraffes have those huge, long-lashed big eyes and move slowly and elegantly, it’s difficult to imagine them that wild until you see them, you were lucky and the landscape in the background was amazing. Conservation of Giraffe is a priority. Yesterday I watched a wonderful documentary at the cinema about life and reintroduction of western European lynxes. It was absolutely breathtaking, the importance of a single species in forging the ecosystem was underlined with poetry in scenery. Lynxes are apex predators in Jura, graffe would be perfect subjects as a key species helping the African landscape

Fabulous sighting Nic, thank you for sharing the story and pictures. Necking takes on a different meaning when applied to giraffes.

For me watching giraffes in a necking session is just as exciting as watching leopards or lions mate. The only difference is that the former could end up mortally wound other other whilst the latter tend to get up and move to another location for another round and hopefully lead to the female falling pregnant. Great blog with some excellent images, especially those at sunset!

Wow Nic, I think it is a showdown between two males. I am always scared one of them gets so hurt and falls, then that would be dangerous. The sound of the nicking is a loud thud noise which in return sends cold shivers down my spine. Thanks for the beautiful photo’s.

What a spectacular sighting! Thanks, Nic, for this interesting blog on the art of necking. Giraffes are such awesome animals, if one thinks of the African bush, giraffes are so typical and special.

Beautiful images of these amazing creatures Nic, and awesome and informative post on the “necking” process they use to determine dominance and suitability for mating!

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