Editing Giraffe (section)

===Necking===
[[File:Giraffe Ithala KZN South Africa Luca Galuzzi 2004.JPG|thumb|right|alt=Photograph of two male giraffes necking to establish dominance|Here, male South African giraffes engage in low intensity necking to establish dominance, in [[Ithala Game Reserve]], [[KwaZulu-Natal|Kwa-Zulu-Natal]], South Africa.]]
Male giraffes use their necks as [[weapon (biology)|weapons]] in combat, a behaviour known as "necking". Necking is used to establish dominance, and males that win necking bouts have greater [[reproductive success]].<ref name=sim1996/> This behaviour occurs at low or high intensity. In low-intensity necking, the combatants rub and lean on each other. The male that can keep itself more upright wins the bout. In high-intensity necking, the combatants will spread their front legs and swing their necks at each other, attempting to land blows with their ossicones. The contestants will try to dodge each other's blows and then prepare to counter. The power of a blow depends on the weight of the skull and the arc of the swing.<ref name=estes/> A necking duel can last more than half an hour, depending on how well matched the combatants are.<ref name=Kingdon1988/>{{rp|331}} Although most fights do not lead to serious injury, there have been records of broken jaws, broken necks, and even deaths.<ref name=sim1996/>

After a duel, it is common for two male giraffes to caress and court each other. Such interactions between males have been found to be more frequent than heterosexual coupling.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Coe, M. J.|year=1967|title='Necking' behavior in the giraffe |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=151|issue=2|pages=313–21|doi= 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1967.tb02117.x}}</ref> In one study, up to 94 percent of observed mounting incidents took place between males. The proportion of [[Homosexual behavior in animals|same-sex activities]] varied from 30 to 75 percent. Only one percent of same-sex mounting incidents occurred between females.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Bagemihl, B. |year=1999|title=Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity|publisher=St. Martin's Press |pages=391–393 |isbn=978-0-312-19239-6|url=https://archive.org/details/biologicalexuber00bage/page/391}}</ref>