You are the alpha male, the top dog, the grand kahuna. A young upstart is trying to muscle his way onto your turf and compete for your women. Your solution - click your knees loudly at him. It seems like a strange strategy. For humans, a clicking knee would hardly be a sign of strength but it's all part of the bizarre communications of the world's largest antelope - the eland.
Elands bulls have a strict pecking order that determines their access to females in the herd. On the few occasions when they fight, they hardly ever use their dangerous horns and hooves, preferring instead to prove their strength through neck-wrestling. Even these grapples are a rarity; most eland conflicts are settled without violence through a series of ritual signals.
These signals include the bizarre knee-clicks which the bulls make with their front legs while walking. They sound like castanets ...
