One Hour Of Love In The Animal Kingdom | BBC Earth

but most of the creatures come together for a very different reason to breed the giant cuttlefish the largest of all [Music] cuttlefish they live for just one or two years years now as the Australian summer draws to an end they have one last act to complete to find a mate but there are over 100,000 males competing for the arriving females in this one Bay among them a giant a true Goliath he probably weighs about 10 kilos bands of color sweep across his skin that's how cuttlefish communicate this smaller male couldn't possibly take him [Music] on beside Goliath and under his protection a female male who has just mated with him but other Rivals are still interested it seems a small male wouldn't stand a chance the female is now displaying a white stripe along her side nearest Goliath it's a clear signal that she no longer wants to mate with him [Music] it's all the encouragement that the little male [Music] needs [Music] he's going to have to use [Music] trickery he tones down his colors and Tucks in his arms he's just the right size to mimic a female [Music] Goliath is deceived the small male now displays a white stripe just like the real female to deter his advances he slips beside her and they [Music] meet by meting with multiple partners the female ensures the greatest genetic diversity for her Young the sneaky male leaves his final Act [Music] complete so even among giant cuttlefish it seems it's not all about size it's the breeding season and the trees are teeming with frogs the female is with a male at the tip of a branch perched above the Patty pool she's building a nest by whipping up a giant ball of foam with her back legs She lays hundreds of eggs inside she's attracting the attention of other males each male could still fertilize some of the remaining eggs in the foam they're coming in from all [Applause] directions but the foam makes it hard to get to grips with the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] competition things quickly descend into an undignified wrestling match [Music] [Music] this male's work here is done it's time to move on and find other nests [Applause] but when you're covered in Slippery foam it's hard to leave with [Music] [Music] dignity it's an unusual problem for a tree [Music] [Applause] frog as the days pass the eggs develop in the safety of their foam Nest the temperature rises with the Summer sun and the foam ball dries to form a protective case the T Pooles inside are still moist and 6° [Music] cooler but the tap Pooles need rain at this time of year warm air is rising over the Steep honu mountains and clouds are starting to build the tree frogs have timed their nest building [Applause] perfectly after 20 days conditions are just right and the waiting is over the hard foam starts to dissolve and the tab poles drop out straight into the nursery pool of the rice Patty [Music] below they Feast on the remaining pieces of the nest a final meal before they take their chances in the big wide world their mother has pulled off a remarkable feet of [Music] planning it's July in the deserts of Nevada in the Western United States the hottest time of the year bands of Wild Horses Mustang are converging on one of the last remaining water holes around now water not only offers them the chance to drink it can also bring power if a stallion can control access to water he will have secured mating rights to the entire herd so Stan try to dominate these pools fighting off Rivals who venture too [Music] close a stranger he's traveled 15 km to be here because the pools where he's come from have already dried up with him come his females if he can't provide them with water they will leave him for the white stallion who already dominates this [Music] pool so he will have to fight [Music] a [Music] there is everything to lose a broken leg or a shattered jaw would mean a slow and painful death a missed kick and it's all over the new arrival has won and his prize is more than just a chance to drink he has provided for his herd and in the process stolen his Rivals females the white stallion's rule is [Applause] over golf Grunion Scout the beach [Applause] then in their hundreds females surf in on the waves shadowed by eager males they are here to spawn but it's not going to be easy each female tries to propel herself as high up the beach as she can to lay just beyond the reach of the waves [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] drilling herself into the sand is the cue for the male granny in to move in they wrap themselves around her jostling to fertilize the [Music] eggs in the frenzy many eggs are dislodged once flicked out of the sand they won't [Music] survive although these Fish Out of Water might seem vulnerable the mass of flickering bodies confuses [Music] Predators the greatest danger comes as they wriggle back to see this is the moment the Pelicans have been waiting for slightly deeper water means they can get their bills underneath to scoop out their [Music] [Applause] victims [Applause] this female runs the gauntlet and makes it through her eggs will develop quickly in the warm desert sand and be ready to hatch in 2 weeks from the next spring tide [Music] acting this laidback tells bani he's not a [Music] threat she seems impressed this is the first time in seven months I've seen them [Music] together a quick peck on the cheek from [Music] bani but rajor still plays hard to get after all this is a first date Raj and bani stayed together for 3 days and showing bagani around is an important part of R jaw's courting [Music] technique this is his favorite water hole and a dip in the pool is guaranteed to [Music] impress followed by a romantic walk in the park [Music] Tigers form a close bond for the few days they are [Music] together it's not just about s X I think Tigers get lonely I can only hope that this might be the moment when the new Dynasty begins [Music] but there are still threats in sisa to help them locate underground prey in the soil kiwis are the only birds in the world to have nostrils at the tip of their bill it's more like a snout perfect for rooting around for [Music] grubs but right now the Kiwi here have something else on their minds a female sings and a luring serenade Love Is in the [Music] Air these birds are part of a habituated group which means we can film intimate details of their private [Music] Behavior Brown kibbies often made for life and females are very [Music] fussy in kiwi couples the ladies are normally the ones in charge but he's happy to follow her around he flirts by grunting and tapping her bottom with his beak she takes a lot of persuading but eventually succumbs to his CHS at around 4,000 pairs this is the Caribbean's largest colony of magnificent frigate Birds each year from August to October males F in from other corners of the Caribbean to breed once a male arrives he's got his work cut out to find a mate first he inflates a pouch to try to stand out from the crowd he has to jostle for a good Nest site high in the mangroves then fight off rival males to keep it all this aggression can be seriously deflating once he's seen off the competition he still has to lure a mate he drums up interest from a browsing female and she comes in for a closer look it's hard to say exactly what a female looks for in a partner but a good Nest site is crucial and this one isn't up to scratch plenty more birds in the sky the females look for a location with clear access where the wind can lift them on and off the nest and this one seems ideal but before the pair can raise a family they have to build a nest and for that they need plenty of the frig's most valuable currency [Music] sticks [Music] loose sticks can be hard to find and easy to lose the male is ambushed by his fellow frigs the true Pirates of the [Music] Caribbean these high-speed area acrobats are experts at midair [Music] theft the male needs all his flying skills to hang on to his stick so he can build a [Music] nest and there's another threat on the horizon one that may ground even the most highflying [Music] maale between June and November hurricanes can strike out of the blue fretes often ride out stormy weather in the air but these males need to hang on to their nests exposed they're in the firing line of winds that could reach 240 kmph the sun takes control success in the stifling heat depends on the ability to seize the day one creature is determined not to miss his chance patagonia's male wandering tarantulas are searching for love this male spent 4 years reaching maturity but in 2 months he'll be dead he's in a serious hurry he'll barely eat or sleep this is what he's looking for silken threads left by a female impregnated with her pheromones chemical love letters advertising her availability they lead him to herir she can live for 30 years she's seen many sutors in the past he Taps a seductive Rhythm to T her out she replies for him this is a very Danger dangerous leaon he eyes her up if he's not her type she'll eat [Music] him but this male has a talent for seduction he tenderly Strokes her body she relaxes opening her fangs allowing him to move [Music] closer he carefully delivers his packet of sperm during mating the female falls into a trans-like [Music] state she stays like this for several minutes he has to make a quick getaway before it wears off for tarantulas lingering goodbyes are generally fatal in Papa New Guinea the bower bird has lovingly rebuilt and redecorated his b another visitor this time it's a female this is just where he wants her time to begin the show first he expands his pupils [Music] alternately it's an oddly mesmerizing display a spot of limbering up accompanied by a weird and wheey call from deep in his [Laughter] throat now it's time time for his grand performance he waves his wing like a matador's [Laughter] cape she appears to be trans is [Laughter] fixed this is certainly eye-catching but it seems he needs to do more generously she drops him a hint it's the bird equivalent of a bouquet of flowers it's all going so well it's time to get physical with a few headbutts to her chest one final flourish to cap weeks of effort but something's wrong his rival is back and at the worst possible moment what should he [Applause] do for the female the moment has gone sometimes whatever you do things just don't work out grass is hard to process so grazers have to consume vast amounts that means big guts and big guts need a big body a diet of grass also means eating for up to 16 hours per day and that leaves little time for the other important tasks these are Uganda cob the most abundant antelope in the western Rift Valley somehow they find time to indulge in a surprisingly complex mating ritual the cob have a dedicated mating ground known as a Le it's where males gather to flaunt themselves and the females turn up to pick a mate [Music] the males want to hold the best spot to win it they have to [Music] [Music] fight [Music] it's all to impress the ladies who are very picky when it comes to choosing the right mate [Music] [Music] the females are after the buck with the best blood the strongest male holding the most coveted position right in the middle of the leg the female chooses her mate and then allows him to test her scent for hormones to confirm she's ready to mate a female comes into season every 20 days or so but is only receptive for a couple of hours so there's not much time for flirting job done the exchange of jeans is complete now the female can relax under the protection of her Champion the father leads one team the mother intercepts a panicking [Music] elk they all show the spoils but all is not quite as collaborative as it seems this pack strategy works well for the alpha couple but not quite so well for last year's offspring the youngsters could have their own pups but for the alpha couple that would mean more mouths to feed and less for their litter so the alpha couple will actively discourage last year's Offspring from mating but one of their daughters has other ideas skullking behind the pack is a lone male wolf he has no territory of his own but follows the family Scavenging leftovers and looking for opportunities he spotted one the young daughter the Intruder could be in with a chance as long as he's not caught the pack leader could kill [Music] him [Music] [Applause] [Music] while the pack is distracted by a bison the Temptation for the young female is too great and she sneaks away to join the mysterious stranger it's risky but it could be her only chance to get close to a potential mate [Music] [Music] sh when mating wolves lock together unable to separate for half an hour to ensure fertilization not so good if you about to be caught by your dad the affair was always destined to be a short [Music] one [Music] after a painful separation her new mate is chased away with his tail between his legs Penguins looking for a partner set themselves apart and start to [Music] display this male doesn't have to wait for [Laughter] long [Music] he's unlucky this [Music] time but he's spoiled for Choice there are 3,000 possible [Music] partners [Music] her W walk shows she's [Music] [Applause] Keen they mirror each other's actions to confirm that they're now a couple but their blossoming romance soon Sparks jealousies a second female tries to muscle [Music] in she pecks at her rival but the males having none of it the girls fight it out it's flippers at [Music] dawn she shoves her Challenger to the ground but it's not over yet her mate cheers her own this time she's clinched it she slapped her way to Victory spider silk with the scent of a female he just needs to follow it wherever it leads [Music] him [Music] other males have gone on the same Quest and have come to a Grizzly end here's the female and she doesn't look very Amorous in fact she kills every male who doesn't match up to her expectations what can he do to win her [Music] over dance [Music] dance for his life he will need a showstopping trick to avoid becoming lunch with his fan unfilled he begins an Ever more complicated series of dance moves to try and [Music] sedu [Music] at last she succumbs to his advances and allows him to meet with [Music] her he matched her [Music] expectations but she kills him anyway the pantanal has escaped the Flames but here most of the rivers are now barely recognizable it's at this toughest time of the year that the female Jaguar is ready for [Music] [Music] mating finally the male Search is Over [Music] [Music] [Music] fail mate repeat ly over the next few [Music] days until recently Jaguars were thought of as solitary only ever getting together briefly but the Jaguars in the pantanal are now revealing a different side to these [Music] cats this pair may stay together for weeks or even months in his prime a male gelada can gather around him a harim of six or seven wives sex causes a great deal of tension because each male lives alongside other hot-tempered tyrants who constantly threaten to abduct his females this male is still so wound up that he mates to dissipate his stress in many primates population is not merely for production female gers can't live with a high level of aggression they want to be left in peace to rear their offspring so they've got ways of preventing their despotic male from behaving too badly inviting him to groom them and grooming him calms tense situations picking through each other's f also reinforces social bonds or friendships but if the male starts to bully one of his wives they all gang up and [Music] retaliate and the Tyrant doesn't always get his own way yet paradoxically the females need Fierce Guardians to protect them from being sexually harassed by unattached males there's no shortage of them gangs of frustrated young Bachelors lurk around the edges of the troop sexually mature they each yearn for their own family of females and frequently make trouble for for everyone it's a universal social problem how to control the aggressive tendencies of young males their rampaging Causes Chaos and challenges the authority of the harim holding males such meetings can only lead to a Simeon [Music] Showdown this male puts on an act of bravado he's greatly [Music] outnumbered but their Victory is shortlived the Furious male scatters the [Music] gang one day this Tyrant will meet his high noon and lose his females but not today he broadcasts his triumphant wind to the rest of the troop from the top of a tree [Music] the males in the patrolling party can sense something in the air big red missy B and Stella the older females who've already given birth are coming into season again as are some of the younger females banded breed regularly and with a pregnancy of Just 2 months an individual breeding female can have up to 5 lit a year that's a potential 15 pups each annually in a world where the biggest gangs are the strongest breeding regularly is a wise strategy the males in the group compete for females an inseason female will be followed religiously by one of the boys this mate guard will stick close to its female and won't give the other boys a look in the guard sticks to his girl Like Glue hardly leaving her side for a second during the few days that she's at her most receptive it's not easy and although some of the younger males in the group try and make guard it's a job that takes experience and it's often the older males who do it more successfully face is a middle ranking male and he fances himself as a bit of a Casanova when it comes to the ladies he's been guarding big red all day and has finally cornered her in the bushes but she's clearly not impressed by his technique It's Not Unusual for the females to reject the Amorous advances of their suitors it must be very irritating being followed around day and night sometimes they express their feelings quite [Music] locally Big Red's high-pitch screams attract other males from the group and this seems to be a deliberate [Music] move face is now torn between a attempting to mate and fighting off his love Rivals it's a sort of test if fa can successfully keep his Rivals from mating her then he's proved himself but he needs eyes in the back of his head or a cheeky rival might slip in and M her instead on this occasion and despite all the shouting big red gets her way and manages to avoid mating all together once she's decided she's ready she won't be so cor Every Spring the male alligators put on a spectacular mating display they sink down in the water so their backs are just below the surface and make really low frequency sounds and the consequence of that is that water droplets on their back look like they're dancing and it soon becomes a water dance off as rival males compete by displaying to females I've never really had any desire to be close to a bellowing alligator but I do want to see this and to do it I've got to trigger a chorus of amorous alligators to see the this spectacle Helen needs to encourage some alligators to start dancing and to do this she needs to replicate their infrasonic calls so they think there's a larger male close by and that requires speakers even bigger than a camper van these speakers produce sounds of 19 Hertz the same deep frequency as the alligators Bellow at so let's see if they can entice a grumpy alligator to start [Music] flirting so that's it those are the big infrasound speakers sending sound out over the lake here and now we just have to wait and see if any of the alligators react [Music] oh one straight over there tail up in the air getting ready to call there are two parts to this display a deep Bellow from their mouths it's like hearing dinosaurs and and the water dance although we can't hear it these alligators are actually producing a very low frequency hum and this causes water droplets to bounce off their backs for these ancient Predators this elaborate display is essential for attracting [Music] [Applause] mates but how do they make the water dance just using [Music] sound footage from our high-speed camera reveals their secret the alligator's back is just below the surface of the water as it begins to Bellow its entire body vibrates and its back acts like a piston driving the surface of the water into a dramatic splashing [Music] display it's thought that alligators have been calling like this for at least 70 million years and it seems that our male from the camera trap has picked up a scent and found himself a female due to his small size this male wouldn't normally have a chance to mate this female seems impatient and our male doesn't have to be asked twice his small size causes a few logistical problems but with persistence and the odd leg up finally he succeeds [Music] mating over the female Grooms the young male with no yings around she can afford to spend time with her [Music] man [Music] for most of the Year bison bulls and cows live separate lives but for a few weeks in late summer thousands congregate in this Yellow Stone Valley it's the rut The Mating Season and the biggest Bulls are busy guarding their harim a dominant bull might make mate with over 50 females for the calves born this year now is the time to stretch their young legs but as the herd grows so tensions rise [Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] the rut takes a heavy toll on the big bulls so arriving now could give this young Contender and [Music] Edge but there's life in the old bull yet [Music] Head to Head the Challenger more than holds his own then he makes a small mistake shunted aside his challenge is brutally [Music] ended the young bull gambled everything and has paid a heavy [Music] price

Channel: BBC Earth

Views: 96,256

Keywords: bbc documentary, bbc, bbcearth, bbc earth

Id: Id7CTLappZU

Length: 64min 49sec (3889 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 14 2024