Raging bull elephants fight for supremacy (and the girls) in ferocious clash on plains of Africa

By Daily Mail Reporter


Raging bulls: The mighty elephants smash heads as they attempt to spear each other with their 5ft-long tusks at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya

Like a real-life Clash of the Titans, these eight-ton elephants tear into each other for supremacy on the plains of Africa.

The two enormous raging bulls - each 13ft high - fight for the affection of herd females, who fled in terror at the macho display.

With five-foot long ivory tusks acting like daggers, the duelling elephants ram each other head on during their battle.

Macho display: The 13ft-high beasts were competing to win the affections of the females in the herd, who had by this time fled from the scene in terror

It ended with victory, and the girls, for one - but defeat and shame for the other.

The incredible scene unfolded at Amboseli National Park, Kenya, and was witnessed by Belgian photographer Charles Vanpraet.

'These fights are usually related to females,' said Charles, 70, who has travelled the world for the past 50 years photographing nature.

'The bulls were around 40 years old and in peak condition.'

The photographs show the female elephants trying to run away from the fight in fear.


Tremendous power: One of the males rears up on top the other in an attempt to gain superiority as the ten-minute battle nears an end

Reaching breaking point: It is not uncommon for tusks to break in these fights such is the ferociousness of the battle

Charles added: 'This fight went on for around ten minutes, but they can go on and on and become extremely noisy affairs with trunks in the air and tremendous power with the head-on ramming.

'Sometimes these battles can be so ferocious that I have seen tusks break during fights.

'They end as all fights do - with victory and in this case the females for the victor.'

Impressed by the display of natural power, Charles has more time for wildlife photography since his retirement 10 years ago.

'I have worked all over the world as a bio-engineer and I have been a photographer since I was a teenager,' he said.

'I feel like a migratory bird with all my travels and I have been privileged to witness events such as these two bull elephants fighting.'

And the winner takes it all...

Enjoying the spoils: With the battle won, the victorious male heads off into the distance with his two trophies, while the other is left hanging his head in shame



source:dailymail