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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Two: On Safari -- expressing the essence of nature > Sparring impala, South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, 2005
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31-DEC-2005

Sparring impala, South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, 2005

Male impala frequently spar by locking their horns in mock combat. But it's hard to know what is play and what is not. I watched this pair going at it with great intensity for fifteen minutes. It looked real enough to me. Because they moved behind the husk of a fallen tree, I could layer this image, sandwiching the battling impala between the gray tree in front of them, and the golden grass just beyond them. They seem to be fighting for territory, a space serving here as their own private corral between the old dead tree and the dead grass.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/200s f/5.6 at 88.8mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis25-Jan-2006 05:46
The dead tree is the key to this image, Allie -- without it, it's just a sparring match. But with it, it's territorial battle within a given space, a private corral.
Guest 25-Jan-2006 01:55
I also love this image. using the dead tree to frame alive nature and deer's action....
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