DISRUPTIONS OF MATINGS, HARASSMENT AND LEK-BREEDING IN KAFUE LECHWE ANTELOPE

Females of lek-breeding ungulates are commonly thought to mate on leks because leks provide opportunities for females to choose particular m ales, and enable them to produce offspring that receive genetic benefi ts. An additional benefit may be that selection has resulted in oestro us females avoiding harassment by non-territorial males in herds. In K afue lechwe, Kobus leche kafuensis Haltenorth, a lek-breeding ungulate , female mating rates in large unstable herds were lower than on leks because a large proportion of mating attempts were terminated prematur ely by competing nonterritorial males. In addition, sexually receptive females in herds were chased more frequently and for greater distance s by males than sexually receptive females on leks. Once females left herds they were more likely to accumulate on leks than on single terri tories because the former retained more females than the latter. Such retention of oestrous females in clustered territories may also genera te benefits to males that establish territories near to one another.