The "polygamous" elephant seal society

Elephant seals are distributed in the waters around Antarctic oceanic islands, breed on land, and like to live in groups. Whenever the breeding season comes in August and September, groups of elephant seals come ashore and start occupying territory and looking for mates. At this time, the beach becomes a paradise for elephant seals.

Polygamy

The breeding grounds of elephant seals are often hereditary territories. The beach on the west coast not far from the China Antarctic Great Wall Station is one of them. More than 300 elephant seals breed here every year. In order to occupy territory, male elephant seals often engage in a brutal battle; the winner becomes the king and has a group of wives and concubines, while the loser leaves in despair and finds another way out. On the beach, people can see a male elephant seal guarding dozens or even hundreds of female elephant seals day and night. These are the wives and concubines he has captured. He is always alert to invading enemies. Once love rivals meet, they will risk everything and start a life-or-death struggle. Both sides were so angry that they roared and shook the ground. They opened their mouths wide and stood up to bite each other until their bodies were covered with bruises, skin and flesh were torn, and blood flowed freely.

Male elephant seals have a ferocious temperament, while female elephant seals have a gentle temperament. Once a female elephant seal is possessed by a male, she will follow her husband obediently and lie beside her docilely. If a female elephant seal has inappropriate behavior and is discovered by her husband, she will Will be severely punished. Therefore, a male elephant seal is often surrounded by dozens or hundreds of female elephant seals. Fights can also occur between elephant seal couples because the female elephant seal refuses to mate again after becoming pregnant.

Once the reproductive season is over, male elephant seals go to the sea to hunt and live freely. The responsibility for raising their offspring rests entirely with the female elephant seal.

Companion     Gentle

animal tags： elephant seal