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00:03So far on Lifestory, we have seen animals take their first steps...
00:17...grow up...
00:23...find a home...
00:31...and gain power.
00:34Now they need a mate.
00:39Competition to win a partner is so intense in nature, it has created both the most extraordinary beauty...
00:48...and life-threatening violence.
01:00...
01:06...
01:14...
01:15...
01:28A male waved albatross will have the same partner for his lifetime of over 20 years.
01:40After feeding alone over the Pacific Ocean,
01:43this male has returned here to the Galapagos, as he does every year,
01:48to wait for his mate to come back to him.
01:58Others are already reaffirming their bond.
02:15As the years go by and they get older,
02:17there is always the possibility that one of them will not make it back.
02:26But his bond with his partner is so strong,
02:29he will simply sit and wait for her.
02:37In nature, it's rare to form such a lifelong commitment.
02:43For most animals, the mating game is both brief and fiercely competitive.
02:54A female green turtle must survive the dangers of the open ocean
02:58for 30 years before she's mature enough to mate.
03:05She's come here to the shallow waters of Malaysia to breed.
03:14She will come here for a bit.
03:20What do you think for him?
03:26I'll be back to her.
03:27I'll be back to her.
03:27She'll be back to her.
03:39She's left out to the river.
03:40She will be back home.
03:40She will be back home.
03:40She is here to see him.
03:42Anyway...
03:42She will be back home.
03:43I think she will be back home.
03:43Ship begins with the gentlest of circling.
03:55Before she accepts his advances.
04:09Their first breath together is the beginning of several hours of mating.
04:17He will hold on as tight as he can to keep her all to himself.
04:29Unfortunately, they have company.
04:32Another male.
04:35He will do anything he can to separate the pair and mate with the female himself.
04:44He targets the soft, vulnerable parts.
05:07He knocks the air out of his rival.
05:20The female is struggling now with the extra weight on her back.
05:24And soon, she will need to surface to take a breath.
05:34Another male.
05:49More competition.
05:54And here's another.
06:11Now, the female has two males locked on her back.
06:15And it's twice as hard for her to get to the surface.
06:34After an hour of battling, the pair are being harassed by seven males.
06:47But the males are so excited, they start attacking each other.
06:58In the commotion, the couple break away for the surface.
07:17The pair manage to make their escape.
07:21The pair manage to make their escape.
07:22Leaving the rival males milling around in confusion.
07:35Finally, they can mate in peace.
07:46In the mating game, it's usually the males who take the risks and make the most effort.
07:57A flame bowerbird doesn't fight to win a mate.
08:19In the breeding season, he spends a week creating this construction, called a bower, in the forests of Papua New
08:27Guinea.
08:32He's a stickler for detail.
08:52He's a stickler for detail.
09:05He's a stickler for a short, when it makes his bones.
09:05Next, there are difficult decisions about the set dressing.
09:25He's a stickler for a short, short, short, short, short, short, short and long, short.
09:38Improvement.
09:41Perfect.
09:44Time to call in the audience.
09:51If anyone's interested.
09:58This could take some time.
10:06Attracting attention is an essential part of winning a mate.
10:15The world's oceans are filled with brilliant colors,
10:19all designed to make their wearers conspicuous.
10:28Unfortunately, this small Japanese pufferfish is dull,
10:32almost to the point of invisibility.
10:34But to compensate, he is probably nature's greatest artist.
10:40To grab a female's attention,
10:43he creates something that almost defies belief.
10:59His only tools are his fins.
11:11In his head, a plan of mathematical perfection.
11:25He plows the sand, breaking it up into the finest of particles.
11:42These shells aren't just rubbish to be removed.
11:47He uses them to decorate the bridges of his construction.
12:02He can't rest for more than a moment,
12:05but must work 24 hours a day for a week,
12:09or the current will destroy his creation.
12:31A final tidy up, and his masterpiece is complete.
12:43The record is named an easy way to do.
12:43That can be exactly simple.
12:43The American hero is a great way to do.
12:49The American hero is a perfect immolation.
12:53The first part of the film is a great idea.
12:53The American hero is one of the mostollo'sез leal in the world.
12:53And the president is a huge part of the world.
12:55The American hero is one of the mostollo's 열양ers.
13:21Nowhere else in nature does an animal construct something as complex and perfect as this.
13:39If this doesn't get him noticed, nothing will.
13:53Now it's ready for inspection.
13:59A female, swollen with eggs.
14:07To make sure she gets the best view, he encourages her into the center.
14:30Inspection over. She withdraws to await the final stage of the process.
14:48By the next morning, all the softest sand is now in the middle.
14:59The center of the arena has been flattened.
15:18Right on cue, here she is. This is what she wanted. It's a perfect bed for her eggs.
15:29The male now grasps her cheek and then fertilizes her minuscule eggs.
15:41And with a quick flick of his fins, he buries them.
15:54They carry on like this until she's finished laying.
15:58What the poisons were doing...
16:02The male now i'm in the middle.
16:03The male now is one of the Żeby.
16:05My mother is the twine.
16:05What's the twine?
16:05Something is the twine.
16:06Yeah.
16:16I know it's a twine.
16:18Maybe not every twine.
16:19What is it that makes my father.
16:19I know it's the twine.
16:19What is it that tells you your mother?
16:20That's why I don't need you.
16:20I know it's the twine.
16:25You're going to your children.
16:26I know I know it's this is a mighty thing.
16:29An hour of his rough affection leaves a love bite on her cheek.
16:57Finally, she leaves.
17:16He stays to fan the eggs until they hatch,
17:20while his extraordinary work of art fades away around him.
17:27After a while, I'm a monarch.
17:33To be continued...
17:38To be continued...
17:41South Georgia in the Antarctic.
18:11A male fur seal.
18:15He's about ten years old and in his prime.
18:21He's coming ashore to face the fight of his life.
18:29He may even die on this beach.
18:39For the first time, he is strong enough to try to win a territory that could attract
18:44a harem of females.
18:48But there are plenty of rivals here with the same idea.
18:52There are plenty of rivals here.
19:31These are only the preliminary rounds.
19:35The real struggle will begin once the females arrive.
19:50Just a week later, females have filled the beach, choosing the best territories in which
19:57to give birth to their pups.
20:07This male now has a harem of a dozen females and he's going to have to defend them.
20:26His jealous neighbours will be ready to exploit any sign of weakness.
20:37It's only once the females have given birth that males can mate with them.
20:45Now, this male must ensure that he alone fathers next year's offspring.
21:00But this is the rival's chance, too.
21:17He must act fast.
21:31He won't find them all as easy as this to intimidate.
22:02He won't find them all as easy as he is.
22:04He won't find them all as easy as he is.
22:05New males pound up from the sea, intent on testing the territory holders.
22:18With many more waiting behind them.
22:26The biggest battles are yet to come.
22:46Usually, in the mating game, it's not the males but the females who call the shots.
22:53And this male long-tailed mannequin is trying to win over one of the world's choosiest females.
23:04He's been practicing his moves here in Costa Rica for as long as a decade.
23:20There's another male here too.
23:26Only the newcomer is not a rival.
23:29He is a junior partner.
23:36They know each other so well they can finish each other's calls.
23:47But that's not all that they have synchronized.
24:07They are master and apprentice.
24:16The apprentice has also been practicing for many years.
24:20But now, he must copy the master's every move.
24:30In fact, the master needs his wingman as a female won't even look at a solo performer.
24:38And what's more, she will expect perfect harmony.
24:40So they practice together every day.
24:44So they practice together every day.
25:23At last, they're ready.
25:33Here she is. Rehearsal over, their performance is the result of more than ten years' hard work.
25:51She won't tolerate a single slip-up.
26:02To go, go!
26:06To go, go!
26:08To go!
26:32Suddenly, the master calls time on the dance.
26:37And the apprentice is banished.
26:43Only the master gets to mate.
26:47For the apprentice, there will be no reward until his master dies and he can take his place.
26:57The mating game can sometimes be a long game.
27:15A male peacock jumping spider from Australia on a quest for a mate.
27:34And when you're the size of a grain of rice, almost anything here could be dangerous.
27:48He's searching for any sign that a female spider came this way.
27:56And he's found something.
28:01Spider silk with the scent of a female.
28:09He just needs to follow it.
28:17Wherever it leads him.
28:32And he does not see much of them.
28:33But he's got a young man.
28:33After a time, he'll take care of the young man.
28:46And he's got a young man.
28:48And he's got a young man.
28:49and have come to a grisly end.
29:24Here's the female, and she doesn't look very amorous.
29:35In fact, she kills every male who doesn't match up to her expectations.
29:46What can he do to win her over?
29:54Dance.
30:08Dance for his life.
30:10He will need a show-stopping trick to avoid becoming lunch.
30:36With his fan unfurled,
30:39he begins an ever more complicated series of dance moves
30:43to try and seduce her.
30:55To be continued...
30:58To be continued...
31:15To be continued...
31:30To be continued...
31:33At last, she succumbs to his advances and allows him to mate with her.
31:52He matched her expectations.
32:03But she kills him anyway.
32:08After all, his body will make the perfect meal
32:11with which to nourish their eggs.
32:18Back in Papua New Guinea,
32:20the male flamed bowerbird is still doing his best to attract a female.
32:27And at last, he gets a response.
32:34Unfortunately, it's a young male.
32:44And worse, he's brought a friend.
32:53They're taking liberties, practicing on his bower.
32:59He doesn't seem to know what to do about it.
33:09But enough is enough.
33:20The commotion attracts the attention of another adult male,
33:26a neighbor and rival.
33:28And I hope he doesn't know what to be.
33:29I hope he doesn't know what to do..
33:34..so he does not know what to do about it.
33:37I hope he doesn't know what to do.
33:39What's the way that he laughs?
33:43Well, I hope it feels...
33:54Having destroyed the bower, he even steals the decorations.
34:04The owner arrives back to find a scene of destruction.
34:14No female's going to look twice at this mess.
34:22He'll just have to start all over again.
34:26In life, there will always be rivals in the mating game.
34:43Autumn in the forests of Japan.
34:53The mating season for Japanese macaques.
35:02This dominant male is over 20 years old.
35:08Age has clouded one eye.
35:15He has had a harem of females for many years.
35:27And he can mate with them unopposed.
35:39But time catches up with everyone.
35:55Young rival males are hanging out on the perimeter, eyeing up his females.
36:16For years, old blue eye has asserted his authority from this tree.
36:26But his authority is waning.
36:30And the moment his back is turned, his females are lured away by younger males.
36:36And the moment his back is over 20 years old.
36:49Throughout the forest, his females are conducting secret affairs.
37:01Blue eye tries to guard his females by patrolling the edge of the troop.
37:21Caught in the act.
37:24The attack is unfaithful female.
37:27The attack is unfaithful female.
37:39He has reasserted his authority.
37:51Or so he thinks.
38:03The moment the old male shuts his eyes, his females are off again.
38:22Most of next year's babies will be fathered by his rivals.
38:34And he will never know.
38:49In Papua New Guinea, the bowerbird has lovingly rebuilt and redecorated his bower.
39:08Another visitor.
39:15This time, it's a female.
39:22This is just where he wants her.
39:26Time to begin the show.
39:31First, he expands his pupils alternately.
39:44It's an oddly mesmerizing display.
39:58It's an oddly mesmerizing display.
40:03It's a bit moreaudible from deep in his throat.
40:18Now it's time for his grand performance.
40:29He waves his wing like a matador's cape.
40:49She appears to be transfixed.
41:04This is certainly eye-catching, but it seems he needs to do more.
41:17Generously, she drops him a hint.
41:34It's the bird equivalent of a bouquet of flowers.
41:54It's all going so well.
41:56It's time to get physical with a few headbutts to her chest.
42:16One final flourish to cap weeks of effort.
42:24But something's wrong.
42:29His rival is back, and at the worst possible moment, what should he do?
42:47For the female, the moment has gone.
42:55Sometimes, whatever you do, things just don't work out.
43:06On the first seal beat in South Georgia, the fighting has been relentless for two weeks.
43:29Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!
43:34Shit! Shit! Shit!
43:41Bloodied and scarred, this bull has held onto his ground and his harem against all comers.
43:57But it's not over yet.
44:01The rivals keep coming.
44:16This new one looks particularly powerful.
44:20Heartful.
44:25Let's go.
44:54Let's go.
44:54Let's go.
44:55Let's go.
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