Fighting or Foreplay?

To see who is stronger, males (called bulls) fight by butting their long necks and heads. This is known as “necking“. These fights aren’t usually dangerous, and end when one bull admits defeat and walks away.

These are not serious brawls and typically involve the animals leaning their full weight (up to 3000 lbs/1360 kg) into each other, pressing their necks together until one becomes too tired to continue. They usually part friends and the stronger of the two gets to nibble on the best acacia tree or try his luck with the girl . Low intensity necking is sometimes engaged in as a pastime just to say "see, I told you I was stronger".