It
could also be adopted by other northern polygynous
ungulates, as the rut typically occurs during a period
when food is limited and of low quality. Recently,
Mysterud et al. (2008) proposed an alternative
hypothesis, termed the ‘physical rest’ hypothesis,
which also predicts that males should trade foraging
time for lying time during the mating season. However,
the functional explanation for feeding reduction
(or cessation) suggested by this hypothesis is
the need for males of a physical rest of muscles to
successfully compete for access to females.