Queer Nature Photography Awards 2026
"Unconvential Mating Approach"
Vittorio Ricci
"Unconvential Mating Approach"
A herd of cape buffalos, at night, resting, after drinking, near a waterhole at Zimanga Private Game Reserve, in South Africa. We clearly can see in this a mating behaviour between two individuals of the same sex. Two cape buffalo bulls in this case. This action can happen as an asserting of dominance in herd’s hierarchy or a simply funny moment in a herd that could be comprised of only bachelor bulls.
About the Photographer
Name: Vittorio Ricci
Age: 63
Nationality: Italian
How does your identity influence your work?
My photo activity begins in the 80's, using slides for almost 20 years and now with digital cameras, since 2006.
What message do you hope to convey with your work about the intersection of queerness and biodiversity in nature?
With my selected picture, I hope that queerness can be more tolerate between people, we have many, many big and more important problems in our world to solve. And queerness is a natural thing, spreadly diffused in nature, admitting, finally, we, as humans, are nature and deeply involved in nature, not superiors entithies or Gods.
What do you think is the importance of highlighting diversity in both nature and society, and how can photography play a role in this?
Some days the mere fact of seeing that exact moment, feels like perfect happiness. You feel so rich, you long to share your jubilation with others. The memory of such moments is your most precious possession, maybe because there have been so few of them. A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there, even if you put them end to end they still add only up to 1, 2 perhaps 3 minutes snatched from eternity. Being able to share that is magic.
What is your favorite example of queerness in nature?
One of my favourites examples of queerness in nature, if I have to choose, are Bonobos, our closest living primate relatives are entirely bisexual. They use frequent, casual same-sex encounters—particularly "GG-rubbing" (genito-genital rubbing) between females—to reduce social tension, share food, and resolve conflicts.
A note from the Narwhal Rainbow Alliance
In the mammalian world, same-sex sexual behavior is often a vital pillar of herd structure, and the Cape buffalo is a powerful example. Within buffalo populations—particularly among all-male "bachelor herds"—same-sex mounting, courtship, and genital licking between bulls are well-documented behaviors. While these interactions can function as a dynamic way to negotiate and assert dominance hierarchies without escalating to lethal violence, they also serve to strengthen social bonds and reduce tension within the tight-knit group. In contrast to these active same-sex relationships, "rainbow parenting" does not occur in this species; calf rearing is handled exclusively by females within large, mixed-sex maternal herds, while bulls provide no paternal care. Today, Cape buffalos face localized threats from habitat fragmentation, droughts exacerbated by climate change, and transmission of diseases like bovine tuberculosis from domestic cattle. Protecting them requires conserving expansive, connected wildlife corridors and maintaining strict disease-management barriers between wildlife and livestock.
Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) – Near Threatened 🟡
Top 13 Award Entries 2026
