The Mating Game

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Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

David Attenborough reveals spectacular scenes of courting and companionship.

Finding a mate isn't just about love - the survival of an entire species could depend on it. Sir David Attenborough reveals spectacular scenes of courting and companionship.

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David Attenborough

Simon Nash

Dan Glendenning

Tara Knowles

Jeff Wilson

Keith Scholey

Silverback Films Ltd

The Mating Game: Series 1: Against All Odds

Against All Odds

BBC One - The Mating Game, Series 1, Against All Odds

Animals facing the greatest odds have the most extraordinary mating strategies of all.

All life is driven by the need to breed. Yet for a few, the odds of success are overwhelmingly against them, and these animals have adopted the most extraordinary mating strategies of all.

One basic need connects all life on earth - the need to breed. But for a few creatures, the odds of success are overwhelmingly stacked against them. Some must find a partner when there are none to be found, while others must find a way to succeed without breeding at all. And some must try to adapt in a world unrecognisable from when they were born. These are animals that have evolved some of the most extraordinary mating strategies of all, and now they face a new challenge in the most successful breeder of all: us.

The deep ocean is home to perhaps the most bizarre mating game of all. It’s the largest and least populated habitat on earth, and most of the creatures here spend their lives alone and in total darkness. So when a male fan-tailed anglerfish is lucky enough to stumble across a female, he clings on for dear life - and that ends up being the price he pays, as his body fuses with hers and his sole purpose becomes the fertilisation of her eggs. He gives so much of himself to her that when she dies, so will he.

Toad-headed agamas spend their lives on the sand dunes of southern Russia. They need burrows in which to lay their eggs, but this isn’t easy when their homes can be swallowed up before their eyes in the ever-shifting sands. Meanwhile, for one laysan albatross, finding a place to breed isn’t so much of a problem, but finding a partner is a real struggle. Laysan pair for life, but when there are not enough males to go around, different tactics are required. And for another iconic bird, an abundance of males leads to perhaps the most remarkable strategy of all. On the plains of Texas, dominant wild turkey males are aided by their less impressive brothers, who will help to keep rival males at bay whilst the top turkey secures as many mates as possible.

In North America, thousands of creatures have been hiding underground for 17 years for their chance to play the mating game. Periodical cicadas emerge from the ground in immense swarms to overwhelm predators and ensure the next generation of ground-dwellers. But a lot can change in so long a time, and their parents could not have predicted how different the world would be for their offspring nor the challenges they would face in this brave new world.

This is just one of the ways in which the breeding success of humans is impacting the natural mating game of others. As a consequence of our success, we face a mass extinction event like no other in human history. But there is hope. Scientific breakthroughs have led to extraordinary solutions in helping other species to reproduce. In a United States federal government facility in Colorado, an incredibly precious animal may be the key to secure the future of her species. And the successful conservation of perhaps the most iconic endangered animal on the planet, the giant panda, has proved that humans can be a force for good.

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The Mating Game

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