March. The female estrous cycle is shorter, but happens in this time. The breeding process starts with the development of a lek. Leks are established by the congregation of adult males in an area that females visit only for mating. Lekking is of particular interest since the female choice of a mate in the lek area is independent of any direct male influence. Several options are available to explain how females choose a mate, but the most interesting is in the way the male's group in the middle of a lek. The grouping of males can appeal to females for several reasons. First, groups of males can protect from predators. Secondly, if males group in an area with a low food supply, it prevents competition between males and females for resources. Finally, the grouping of males provides females with a wider variety of mates to choose from, as they are all located in one central area. Dominant males occupy the center of the leks, so females are more likely to mate at the center than at the periphery of the lek. A study by Bro-Jorgensen (2003) allowed a closer look into lek dynamics. The closer a male is to the center of the lek, the greater his mating success rate. For a male to reach the center of the lek, he must be strong enough to outcompete other males. Once a male's territory is established in the middle of the lek, it is maintained for quite a while; even if an area opens up at the center, males rarely move to fill it unless they can outcompete the large males already present. However, maintaining central lek territory has many physical drawbacks. For example, males are often wounded in the process of defending their territory from hyenas and other males. Etymology The first known person in the Western world to record this antelope was the English painter Samuel Daniell, who painted it in "Boosh-wana", and recorded it as the 'sassayby'. The painting of the animal was first published posthumously in 1820 by his brother. William Cornwallis Harris, in his 1840 book about big game hunting, was quite familiar with the species in the Cashan Mountains and Kurrichane Hills, and renders the name as "sassaybe". Sassaby had thus become the common name for this antelope in Southern Africa by the end of the 19th century. The English later recorded the Tswana name