By Eve Davidian
Spotted hyena males can be very persistent when they have a crush on a female. They may follow the female’s every movement: lie down a few meters away from her when she decides to rest, observe her when she changes her position or lifts her head, and get up and follow her when she walks away – in human society, such a behavior would be considered as stalking. In spotted hyenas, males use this rather exhausting strategy to foster and maintain a friendly relationship with the female – and more if they hit it off. Staying nearby a female also allows the male to displace rivals if they come too close to their loved one or to defend the female if she is being aggressively harassed by another male – harassment by males occurs regularly but is a far less successful strategy than a charming courtship.
There was a period when Kondo, one of the males in the Ngoitokitok clan, was very much into the female Aiba and was following her wherever she went. Aiba seemed ok with this rather old guy sticking around. They actually made quite a cute couple sleeping close to each other. One day, as we were approaching them by car, Aiba got up and walked away from her resting place – and from Kondo. Kondo was then deep asleep and did not react to her departure. When he woke up 15 minutes later, yawning and stretching his legs, he immediately checked the place where his girlfriend was resting. As soon as he realised that Aiba was gone he jumped up and scrutinised the surroundings to see where she was. But Aiba was nowhere to be found. Kondo looked very nervous indeed; running around and sniffing the ground for cues, pricking his ears up, running again in great excitement. It was obvious that he was desperate to find Aiba again.
We took pity on Kondo and tried to show him the direction Aiba had taken but Kondo was not paying attention. He kept trying to pick up her scent and eventually ran in the wrong direction. Poor Kondo! For more than two weeks, he had bet everything on Aiba and would have to start from scratch with another female if he did not find Aiba quickly. But no worry, when we saw Kondo again three days later he was reunited with his beloved. It seemed that after all Aiba did not resent Kondo for his lack of attention.
Here is what a male looks like when desperately looking for his lost female:
Ngorongoro Hyena Project 