Early into our December holidays, we came upon two black wildebeest bulls squaring off in a territorial tussle near the Basotho Cultural Village in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. At the onset they appeared evenly matched, sometimes wrestling each other right to the ground with their horns interlocked, entirely oblivious to the human spectators. Reasonably quickly one triumphed and sent his rival running, the entire fight lasting all of one exhilarating four minute long round.
Walking to the battle ground
Walking to the battle ground
Sizing up one another
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
Round 1! Black Wildebeest Duel
The victor and the vanquished
The victor and the vanquished
The victor and the vanquished
Golden Gate has a substantial population of black wildebeest, and is one of the best places to go searching for these endemic South African creatures.
Territorial Black Wildebeest bull that’s lost the tips of both his horns in fights!
Black wildebeest on the trot along Golden Gate’s game viewing circuit
Black wildebeest herd on a plateau
Black wildebeest herd on a plateau
Black wildebeest calves
DeWetsWild 
What magnificent animals! Happy New Year!
These guys certainly made an impression.
Happy 2017 to you as well!
Happy New Year! Looking forward to another year of your photography!
As kind as always, thanks John. Happy 2017 to you as well!
Epic!
Great description, thank you!
What a marvelous thing to see. Thanks for sharing it with us.
janet
Glad to know you were as impressed as we were, Janet!
Excellent series! You must have been doing some fast clicking to get those.
Thanks Pat! Indeed, the camera didn’t get much rest!
The New Year brought in the “New” Strongest and the “Old” lives another day! Great pictures! it must of been loud listening to them bang their horns/antlers together! 🙂 T.
It was an awesome experience in the true sense of the word, Teresa! I’m very thankful that I’m not a wildebeest bull!
Great series — magnificent animals! May this new year bring great experiences and much happiness.
Lisa
Thank you very much Lisa! Our best wishes to you as well for 2017!