I came to understand with time that powerful wildlife images are the ones that translate an emotion, which is often the result of the interaction between two or more animals. Luck was on our side when we crossed paths with these two young adult giraffes during their necking practice session. We noticed they were doing it in a quite friendly way, to avoid hurting each other as the moment of force generated by the movement of their long necks could indeed be harmful in real fight situations. When they went a bit too hard, a moment of care and affection almost immediately followed, as if it was their own way of saying “sorry”. I felt this one was one of them.

By Abderazak Tissoukai in aid of the Angama Foundation