London, May 20 (Inditop.com) Scientists have found that male topi antelopes trick females in order to boost chances of mating.A study of topi antelopes in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve Park found that male antelopes snort and look intently ahead if an ovulating female begins to stray from its territory.
This type of behaviour suggests to the female that there is predator danger ahead. Typical predators of the topi include lions, cheetahs, leopards and humans.
But examining the behaviour closely, scientists discovered that the male antelope’s snort and intent look were a false call to keep the female in his vicinity and there was no danger nearby.
Rather than risk any danger of a predator, the female stays within the male antelope’s territory, which increases his chances of mating with her.
The research, carried out by Jakob Bro-Jorgensen at the University of Liverpool and Wiline Pangle at Michigan State University, studied the topi antelope over a four-year period.
Bro-Jorgensen said: “Our study showed that males quite frequently pull this trick on the females. One might ask why females keep responding to such alarms at all.”
This type of intentional deception of a sexual partner has not been documented before in animals.
Previous studies have shown that animals do deceive each other but mainly in hostile situations or to protect themselves.
“The answer seems to be that females are better off erring on the side of caution, because failing to react to a true alarm could easily mean death in a place like the Masai Mara which is full of predators,” Bro-Jorgensen said, according to a University of Liverpool release.
