Uganda kob prefer high-visibility leks and territories

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Abstract
In lekking species, where males provide estrous females with little more than sperm, it has been widely supposed that the only possible benefits to females of mate choice are genetic. We studied female choice of leks and territories in a reduncine antelope, the Uganda kob (Kobus kob thomasi), and found that females consistently preferred high-visibility mating sites. Leks were elevated and had shorter grass and fewer thickets than the surrounding areas. Changes in the number of male and female kob on 10 leks were correlated with changes in surrounding grass height, and both females and males preferred leks with experimentally reduced grass height over neighboring controls. Within a lek, territory popularity was the primary determinant of male daily mating success, and females preferred territories relatively far from thickets, but removal of thickets did not affect female territory preferences. Because lion hunting success on kob increases with grass height and thicket density, females may benefit directly from these preferences by reducing the risk of predation.

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