Media News 48

Alpha Stripes: Zebras Clash in Brutal Battle for Leadership, Showing Who Rules the Pack with Ferocity and Determination

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by

Hei
in

Zebras are not always the quiet complacent striped horses you drive past in the bush, when males come head to head, their fights can be brutal.

Zebras are not always the quiet complacent striped horses you drive past in the bush, in fact, when males come head to head against each other these fights can be brutal and often end in death…

Photographer Clint Ralph said: 'This is when all hell breaks loose with the two fighting for dominance. 'There were hundreds of zebras coming and going that day'

Wildlife photographer and guide for Private Kruger Safaris in the Kruger National Park, Bernhard Bekker, captured this footage and explained the sighting to Latestsightings.com: “We sat at the waterhole as quiet as possible waiting for animals to come and drink when suddenly, in the distance a small herd of zebra emerged and came closer to the waterhole. Rapidly the zebras started to fight and bite each other, it looked like a bachelor’s herd so no females joined the group as far as we could see.”

Steed-y there: A male zebra sinks his teeth into the shoulder of the rival stallion during a fight for dominance at the Etosha National Park in Namibia

“The most amazing part of this sighting was that the zebra fighting was so long, it lasted approximately 15 minutes. You always see stallions fighting when it is dry or they fight for dominance around a waterhole or where mares are involved but to see them just carrying on and on like this was a spectacular sight.”

Horsing around: The rival zebras were competing over a mare when they began butting heads biting each other and kicking up clouds of dust

“It did give the photographer on the trip many chances to take some once-in-a-lifetime shots of zebra’s behaviour. We could not believe how strong and tough these stallions were as they took the bites and kicks to the face, neck, and body remarkably well without looking dazed for a moment. Makes you realize that a zebra is not your average donkey like most people think, they are tough and cunning when it comes down to it.”

Zebras fighting – battle of the stripes

“The males started to fight less and you could see the main instigator had blood coming from his neck and shoulders and started walking away with his head down when another male jumped in to fight.”

“They then proceeded to run away from us and kept fighting into the distance. It looked like they had just popped in for a drinks break and bar fight before continuing on again… The guests on our vehicle laughed about the funny ending to our sighting.”