This phenomenon may seem bizarre – cruel, when seen through human eyes – but it’s common across many species, including our own. It’s known as mate-guarding, and is a vitally important piece of the puzzle when it comes to understanding relationships and the balance of power between females and males. Even though it might well harm the male to have his partner so distressed through the winter, leaving her with less energy come the spring when she will need to reproduce and look after their offspring, he doesn’t stop pushing her away from the other males. It’s more important to him that he
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