From long breakups to cheating partners: Animals with the most complicated love lives

If one partner dies, fewer than 20% of widowed voles seek out a new mate, as per science (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

2. Prairie voles

Prairie voles are no different from teenagers who fall in love after just one date. These rodents can also form intense lifelong bonds after just 24 hours of cohabitation and mating. While there have been cases of infidelity, a large section of “widowed” Prairie voles are loyal and refrain from finding new partners.

3. Dolphins

Dolphins are the classic “hookup culture” followers. Both males and females may have multiple partners from close groups and choose partners based on intelligence and social skills. Some mating situations may even involve temporary isolation of females that can last several days, with partners rotating. Social status often matters more than romance.

When a lioness is in heat, she and her mate may mate 20–40 times a day over several days, to increase the chances of successful conception (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

4. Lions

When it comes to love, lions run on practicality, with their behaviours coming straight out of a gangster flick. A lioness mates with multiple males during estrus — sometimes over 100 times a day — to confuse paternity and protect cubs from infanticide. Sometimes males even kill cubs from a previous father before breeding. Lionesses mate with more than one male to defend their cubs. In Africa, mates are shared more equally; in Asia, the dominant male gets most.

5. Bonobos

Bonobos are pansexuals who use sexual behaviour to reduce stress and solve conflicts. These gender-fluid beings mate in every combination — male-female, female-female, and male-male — often dozens of times a day. Their relationships are flexible and constantly changing. Just like lions, female bonobos also mate with multiple males to confuse paternity and reduce the risk of infanticide.

Bonobos share 98.7% of their genetic code with humans, making them one of our closest living relatives (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

6. Seahorses

Seahorses form exclusive pair bonds, do daily greetings and even synchronised dances. However, when they are unable to synchronise their reproductive cycles, the couple calls it quits.

Albatross’ courtship includes special dances with more than 12 moves, including head rolls, pointing to the sky, and beak clapping to attract a mate (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

7. Albatrosses

Albatrosses are highly particular about their mates. They spend years learning special courtship dances with specialised moves — like head rolls, sky points, and beak fencing — before settling down. The couple meets once a year, sometimes for even decades. However, if the dance doesn’t work, they break up — even after years together. There have also been reported cases of female infidelity.

8. Emperor penguins

Emperor penguins don’t have lifelong partners. They pair up each season through weeks of calls and head bows, but their bonds last only until the chicks fledge (develop feathers). However, one tiny mistake could lead to a breakup, whether it is a late egg return, a missed egg transfer, or a harsh blizzard. Males fast for months while incubating a single egg, losing almost half their body weight, and females must return exactly on time or risk abandonment.