Harem

Unlike deer, lions do not have a fixed fighting schedule for males. Male lions that have won a group of females often have to face challenges from other males.

Unlike the deer, the victorious males not only stay with the females for a few weeks, but for as long as possible – until they are defeated by another male. Unlike deer, male fights are not ritualized and are carried out with all the brutality possible.

Because the females‘ time is limited, the male must make the best possible use of this time to pass on his genes. Females are not left out on their fertile days, but are taken over with serial coitus. If a male has fought off a pack of females from his predecessor and there are females with babies in the pack, then the babies are killed by the new harem male in order to make the females ready to conceive as quickly as possible.

Such infanticide also occurs among apes.

More on this in the chapter : It’s election day – Who can crossbreed with me?

and in the chapter: Our hairy relatives – How do we get along in our evolutionary neighborhood?