The Mating Game (2021): Season 1, Episode 1 - Grasslands: In Plain Sight - full transcript

One challenge
faces almost all animals on Earth,

the need to find a partner.

It's a drama that is played out
in every corner of the planet.

For some, it's conducted
on an immense scale.

Others need to put on a show.

And for many, it involves intense,
even lethal battles.

This series will reveal
the extraordinary strategies

that animals employ
to succeed in The Mating Game.

Those that win will have a stake
in the greatest competition of all...

the creation of a new generation.

Namibia in Southwest Africa.



An ancient landscape that has shaped
the mating game of its residents.

Ostriches.

The rules of their mating game
have been refined and elaborated

over some 60 million years
and are now very well established.

During their breeding season,

each flock is dominated
by a single male.

His territory, and the females
that come with it is a hard-won asset.

So his leadership is only challenged
by the brave or the foolhardy.

This young male is low
in the flock's pecking order.

He has spent five years
preparing for this moment,

and now he needs to breed.

The resident females seem interested.

He starts to show off.

And their attention encourages him.



But the current leader
does not tolerate competition.

The kick of an ostrich
ls powerful enough to kill a lion.

And the young male is risking
an end to his breeding season

before it's even started.

In a matter of moments,
the young challenger

has been cast out of his flock.

It's a disastrous start to his campaign,
but it comes with a valuable lesson.

Out here in the open,

the mating game
is exposed for all to see.

The young male now faces
a major challenge.

There are not many ostriches
on these dry plains

and females are hard to come by.

It could take him
several months to find one.

He does, however,
have a way of bringing them to him.

He inflates a sack in his throat

and produces a boom
that carries for miles.

And it attracts unaccompanied females.

But that is the easy bit.

Female ostriches are very choosy.

With the largest eyes
of any land-living animal,

they assess his every detail.

The pinkness of his shins,
the shininess of his black feathers,

both indicate his sexual quality.

But he has yet to pass a crucial test.

The females lead him on a chase,
testing his stamina.

And they can run
at speeds of 40 miles an hour.

All he has to do is to keep up.

One of the females slows,

and once again he tries to win her over.

But again, she seems indifferent.

Now he has only one trick left.

At last he seems
to be getting some attention.

She flicks her wings,
a sign that she is impressed.

So with little to lose, cautiously,
he performs his final trick.

It's not perfect...

but he gives
the performance of his life.

With that achieved, he will now go on
and mate with several more females

before the season is over.

Provided, that is,

he can maintain their interest.

He now has a final task.

He must take every female
with whom he mates this season

to his chosen nest site,

and there, incubate all their eggs
for the next two months.

Only if they hatch

will he know that he has truly
succeeded in his mating game.

Where grass grows abundantly,

mating, for many,
Is rather more competitive.

This zebra stallion
has spent several years

assembling a group of females,
his harem.

And he'll do anything
he can to retain them all.

Some of his mares are already pregnant,

and he leads them
on the never-ending search for food.

Every March,
they come here to the Serengeti,

one of the most extensive
natural grasslands left on Earth.

Such rich grazing
attracts herds 30,000 strong.

His family has good reason
to join this huge assembly.

There is safety in numbers,
and predators here are awaiting them.

Hyenas.

Small harems are the most at risk.

The herds will provide the safety
that the stallion needs,

and right now, his family
is particularly vulnerable.

Here, his new-born foals
can get a good start in life.

Soon after birth, their mothers
become ready to mate again.

But being in a big herd
causes a problem for the stallion.

Bachelor males are quick to detect
the scent of a newly receptive mare.

And they will try to separate one

from the rest of his harem
whether she is willing or not.

If a stallion doesn't
drive off the bachelors,

his group will be broken up
in a matter of minutes.

But if he's going to keep his
family together, he will have to fight.

A well-placed bite to the bottom
ls enough to see off weaker rivals.

But with challenges
coming from all sides,

he's in danger of losing control.

Pushed to his very limits,
he must now use greater violence.

Victory.

His family is still together... For now.

But his right to breed isn't guaranteed.

His females will still have
the deciding say in that matter.

Competition between males for a mate
ls common throughout the natural world.

But females may also play
a deciding part in the mating game.

One such is so efficient at doing that

that her species has become
one of the most successful

of any on the planet.

Here on the grasslands of Africa,

their castles of clay
are a familiar sight.

Each one is ruled by an extraordinary
all-powerful queen.

Her domain can stretch
for many miles underground

and is maintained
by armies of her subjects,

most of whom implicitly obey
her instructions,

but never even meet her.

Everything in this community
ls under her control.

She can live for 50 years,

longer than any other insect
in the world.

Meet the termite queen.

Her devoted partner, the king,

has been at her side
throughout her life.

He mates with her frequently,
but his role is limited to that.

It is his gigantic queen
who dominates the colony.

Her bloated body contains huge ovaries

which produce eggs non-stop.

She lays one every three seconds,

24 hours a day for 25 years,

a productivity
unmatched in the natural world.

All in the colony are her offspring

and all are dependent on her success.

They clean her tirelessly
and keep her well-fed.

Some remove the eggs and store them,
a seemingly never-ending job.

In her lifetime, she will produce
over a quarter of a billion offspring.

As each egg emerges,
it's taken away to another chamber.

Here, the workers toil

to create the perfect conditions
for their development.

Some chambers serve as gardens.

Here, the workers cultivate
balls of white fungus

with which to feed the Queen.

But not all young termites remain equal.

Their future will be determined
by the queen.

In response to the needs of the moment,

she will produce chemical instructions
that determine the role

each of her offspring will play
in the community.

And once a year,

she changes the behaviour
of the entire colony.

As the rainy season approaches,

she orders her workers
to open new gateways

in the outside walls of their castle.

They are preparing

the most important
and dramatic happening in their year.

Exactly why the rains
trigger this event is still unknown,

but it will not begin without them.

What happens next occurs
on only a few days in a year.

But the future of her entire kingdom
depends on it.

As a consequence
of a chemical signal from her,

some of her subjects
have developed wings.

Each of these winged termites
Is a potential queen or king.

And one morning, at first light,

they emerge in millions.

Attempting to get
as far away as possible

and start their own community.

But their journey is beset by danger.

Such a multitude of edible insects
does not go unnoticed.

Emerging in these vast numbers
Is part of termite strategy.

The loss of a few thousand individuals
amongst millions is insignificant.

Eventually, even the greediest predators
will have had as much as they can eat.

The surviving termites,
males and females, find partners,

shed their wings,

and each partnership
then digs a new colony together.

So, if things go well,

more clay castles will appear
on the African plains.

A lifelong partnership
between male and female

can certainly lead to great rewards.

But in fact
such a simple strategy is rare.

Delaying finding a mate
until one reaches one's physical prime

is a more common tactic,

but it does have its problems.

These are the meadows
of Southern Australia.

Here, sheer physical size
can make a significant difference.

Male grey kangaroos
battle for access to the females.

The biggest nearly always wins.

As a result
the males have become very big indeed.

At 2.5 metres tall

they're more than twice the size
of the females.

These battles are nearly always won
by the biggest male.

But it will be the female
who will decide

exactly when he will be allowed
to claim his reward.

A female can conceive at any time,

so there is no rush
as far as she is concerned.

But a male kangaroo has to fight
whenever he's challenged,

so he is keen to mate
Just as soon as he can.

The longer the delay,

the greater the chance
that another male will displace him.

Rival males show off
to make clear how very big they are.

So the victor keeps her close by him
while he still has the upper hand.

She, however,
continues to explore her options.

No matter what the victor does
to impress her...

She ls still reluctant to commit.

Things are taking a little longer
than he might like.

After days of unsuccessful courting,
she leads him to the edge of the meadow.

And here, there are others
who keep an eye on what is happening.

Less physically impressive males
lurk out of view,

waiting for a female to lose her suitor.

They just need a distraction.

Another large male
enters the competition.

He's just as big as the first one,

so if he is to win the female,
he'll have to fight.

And while both of them
are preoccupied by battle...

She looks elsewhere.

This smaller male, out in the open,

would stand little chance
of winning a mate.

But while the big boys battle,
she is willing to accept him.

Sneak mating like this

accounts for only a small proportion
of kangaroo pregnancies.

But in a grassland dominated
by a few particularly large males,

sneaky strategies ensure

the genetic diversity
of the next generation.

Hiding your intentions
out in the open plains

is often difficult.

But if you live in the tangle
of vegetation on the grassland floor,

it's possible to use
rather different tactics.

A male nursery web spider.

He's hunting.

He actively stalks his prey

and the grass provides him
with excellent cover.

But he's not going to eat
this catch himself.

Instead, he's going to give it
to someone he has not yet met.

First, he carefully
gift wraps his capture.

Presentation is going to be
very important.

Once satisfied
with the appearance of his parcel

he starts searching
for someone to give it to.

Lines of silk amongst the grass stems
are a promising lead.

And there are signals
coming from the other end.

A female nursery web spider.

It seems promising.

But he must be careful.

She is, after all,
a killer just as he is.

And she seems quite hungry.

She accept his gift
and begins to eat it.

For a first meeting,

things seem to be going very well.

Well enough, anyway,
to make his hair stand on end.

While she is busy eating,
he gets ready for action.

He starts to transfer his sperm to her,
using a specialised sack on his foreleg.

Both sides seem content.

She gets a meal, he gets to mate.

But the exchange among spiders
isn't always so equal.

The male nursery web spider

will attempt to mate
with as many females as he can.

His biggest problem is finding
enough food to satisfy them all.

Most spider hunts,
like the hunts of most predators,

end in failure.

So this male spider cheats.

He starts by picking up
someone else's leftovers,

a dead fly.

Providing it's well wrapped,
she might never know.

There's only one way to find out
if it's acceptable.

Amazingly, it works.

Encouraged by this success,
he does something exceptionally devious.

He wraps up a flower.

It's not even food.

Such extreme deception is rare.

And it doesn't always work.

This male, however,
seems to have mastered the trick.

Now his success is limited only

by the number of gifts
that he can collect.

With a strategy
that is clearly effective,

he tries almost anything
that looks remotely suitable.

Not all nursery web spiders
can pull off this trick.

But for those that can,
the prize is worth the effort.

Or in this case, the lack of it.

Deception is a risky strategy,

especially out in the open
where it can more easily be detected.

So some males work together
to put on a show.

In Northern Finland,

groups of male ruffs gather
on communal display grounds

known as leks.

They rely on spectacular
neck feathers to impress a partner.

But fine feathers by themselves
are not enough.

Empty leks, like empty dance floors,
rarely entice the opposite sex.

The more males there are,
the more attractive they will be.

So the locals accept visiting males.

The visitors have a distinct white ruff
and they travel between leks

looking for the best
mating opportunities.

So with both visitors and locals here,

this lek has become very conspicuous.

The males advertise the richness
of the choice on offer

by leaping into the air.

It gives them a good chance of
being seen by females flying overhead.

A flock of females descends
for a closer look.

The males' strategy is clearly working.

And now, they start to show off
their extravagant ruffs.

The females now have
plenty of males to choose from.

But any attempt
by these white-necked visitors

to do more than display

Is quickly dealt with by the lek owners.

With only a few females on the lek,

the locals soon squabble
amongst themselves.

Some do find a mate,

as do some of the visitors.

But many do nothing but fight.

Unobtrusively, however,
something else is going on.

Meet a faeder.

A male ruff
wearing the plumage of a female.

The only known example
of cross-dressing in the bird world.

The faeder avoids competition,

since all the other males
think he's a female.

So, while the other males
continue to fight it out,

the faeder moves in.

Only 1% of the male population
are faeders.

But it proves that in gatherings
where male display is important,

there is still room
for a different approach.

Assembling in really large herds,

like those that appear
on the open savannahs of Kenya,

can seriously complicate
the mating game.

They attract the greatest concentration
of predators in the world.

Here, you have to keep your eyes peeled.

And this young male topi
ls doing just that.

His excellent eyesight enables him
to spot approaching predators.

And his alarm calls warn others
of the dangers lurking in the grass.

But a sentry also wants to mate.

So eventually, he abandons his post
and follows the other males

to the traditional display grounds.

Now, with no one to give warning
of predators,

the journey is becoming dangerous.

On arrival, the young male's problems
become evident.

The females tend to look for males
in the centre of the display ground,

so that is the place to be.

But he has to battle with rivals
even before he gets there.

The stakes in the mating game
now get even higher.

Females arrive in a group.

A female topi is fertile for only
one single day in the whole year.

So it's vital that he makes
a good impression right now.

He tries a ritualised trot
that demonstrates his physical fitness.

But the females seem to take no notice.

He needs to do something else.

He tries driving his horns
into the ground as others are doing.

The effect is certainly eye-catching.

But will it make any difference?

Still no takers.

But now, he's attracting
the wrong sort of attention.

His final tactic is less obvious.

He actually exploits the presence
of predators.

As a female comes into view,
he snorts a predator-alarm call.

It stops the female in her tracks.

It's a false alarm, but it delays her
Just long enough to give him a chance.

And that is all he needs.

His success gives him a fresh swagger.

But in mating with so many females,
he exposes himself to danger.

Since arriving a few weeks earlier,
he has barely stopped to eat or drink.

His mating exertions
have left him exhausted.

With few males acting as sentries,

this is neither the time
nor the place to drop your guard.

Even an exhausted topi
ls more than a match

for a single adult cheetah.

But there are two...

and now three.

Such is the desire to breed,
that some on this grassland

pay for the chance
to do so with their lives.

But those who manage to complete
the act of mating,

will have left a legacy within the herd.

The mating game begins
with finding a partner.

For many, the act of mating
brings it to an end.

But for some,
that isn't the whole story.

After 40 days of incubation,

ostrich parents have to take on
their final responsibilities.

Chicks, just a few days old.

The timing of their parents' mating
couldn't have been better.

Rain has brought plenty of food
to the arid grasslands,

and that is what the chicks must have
if they are to survive and grow.

So the responsibilities of these adults
are still by no means over.

Winning the mating game
can have its consequences.

And for some, they can be
the greatest challenge of all.

To film The Mating Game,
crews travel led across the world

to gain an intimate understanding
of animals and their habitats.

My God,
there's a baby caiman in his mouth.

Over 2.5 years,
teams worked alongside wildlife experts

often going to extreme lengths
to capture the behaviours on camera.

It's unbelievable what's happening
here in this forest.

What they uncovered
was beautiful and surprising,

and revealed the true complexity

of the strategies that animals employ

to win the mating game.

One of their greatest challenges
involved predicting

when ostriches will begin their breeding
in the desert grasslands of Namibia.

It's a behaviour that cameraman
Martyn Colbeck

has spent years trying to understand.

I'm pretty excited,

just want them to get on
with their mating game.

Martyn's experiences
tell him in this part of the world,

ostriches have to time their breeding
to perfection.

We think that
the breeding is just about to kick off,

but what hasn't happened yet
is that the ostriches haven't split up

and dispersed to look for nest sites,
and that's when the males

start to do their territorial chasing
and displaying to each other.

The birds must begin their breeding

in advance of the annual rain.

It's a gamble that ensures
that there will be enough food

for their chicks
when they eventually hatch.

It means that the film team must also
second guess the timing of their trip.

As with many places in the world
these days,

the weather patterns here in Namibia
are so unpredictable.

It's had drought for five years,
and as you can look around

and it's really, really dry
and really, really barren.

There's a slight worry within the camp

that, you know, with this drought
and with this unpredictable weather,

that there's just no real trigger,
as it were, for the ostriches

to do their thing.

The more they search,
the greater the sense of unease

at the lack of activity.

Aerial reconnaissance by the team
uncovers further evidence

that this landscape is under duress.

Quiver trees have evolved to cope
with long periods without rain,

but even they have succumbed
to the drought.

I can imagine
what this place must have looked like

15-20 years ago.

It's upsetting.
I'm actually really upset.

You know, you come here thinking,
wow, amazing quiver tree forest

and you get here and you just see
this devastation.

I'm upset.

I'm really, really, as in truly upset.

It was like, like you said,
these trees are older than us,

you know, trees are older than you,
and myself and Gurt combined,

and they're just lying here dead,
just done for.

Bad situation to be in.

As the weeks pass,

there's still no sign of the rain
the ostriches so desperately need.

They should be establishing
their territories,

they should be digging their nests,
the males should be fighting.

But they're not.

In the year that Martyn was here,

Namibia experienced the worst drought
in 90 years.

In these conditions,

the ostriches seemed to sense
that any attempt to breeding

would end in failure.

The team left empty-handed.

The following year,
The Mating Game returned

with a new team, and renewed hope
that the rains might eventually arrive.

And what they encountered from the start
took them by complete surprise.

With this much foreplay on display,

it's clear the ostriches
are in a very different mood.

In the far distance, we just saw a male
definitely doing what we want it to do.

So we're just now going as fast
as we can over here,

hoping they're gonna keep going.

He's twisting, he's twisting,
he's twisting.

My gosh, she's twisting!

-Yeah, that's a good angle.
-He's running.

Okay, let's get ahead of this one.

With the males now
violently competing for females,

their mating game
has literally kick-started.

God, an amazing thing to see,
that's incredible.

Is a round of high fives appropriate?

Jeez, yeah. Well done.

Jeez, thank goodness for that.

How long was that?

Anyway, it's not that long,
it's just the intensity of it, isn't it?

More surprising, with still no rain,

but clouds building on the horizon,

the ostriches begin to launch
into their finale.

Yes, yes, no, she's...

Yes.

Well done, Steve.

So, it's all going ahead,
and we were trying to work out

why that is, what's the difference,

because it's, there's still been no rain
at all, been a few clouds.

But we've just seen that the forecast
for next Monday, that's a week away,

there's rain forecast, so...

You know, maybe they somehow know that,
I don't know how they do that,

but maybe they know that it's going
to be a good rain year.

In the coming weeks,
after five years of waiting,

something remarkable happened.

The desert plains received
a much needed downpour.

It seems the ostriches
got their timing right after all.