In pictures... The Mating Game

Females often give birth to twins who are raised in clans that can number over 100, where the females are in charge.

This leads to sibling pups being extremely competitive over access to their mothers milk. New research has shown that in nearly 10% of hyena litters in the Serengeti, the subordinate will die of starvation.

Her lightning fast reflexes can take down prey in 1/10 of a second – faster than the speed of a human blink!

Breeding season is a busy time with the females only receptive to mating for a short window of 6 hours.

As far as macaque species go the matriarchal barbarys are relatively peaceful. But when conflict does break out and disputes need to be settled these macaques resort to extreme measures. Scientists have observed male members of the the troop ‘baby borrowing’. They believe this is key to resolving conflict, which in turn reduces tension in the group.

For up to half his life… a beta male will help the alpha to win over females - building up the reputation of their courtship dance site, and drawing the same mates in, year after year. But when the alpha dies, the beta male will inherit this dance floor.. and all its visiting females.

During the breeding season the males perform a ‘bizarre’ face to face stand-off. It’s a face off that can sometimes be enough to put off a challenger but it’s often the prelude to an outright fight.

Mongoose groups are so tightknit that a female has little option but to breed… with many of her male relatives. The result is a high proportion of weak inbred pups. Banded Mongooses are so violent that some scientists categorise them alongside chimps and humans, as one of the few mammals prepared to wage war. Scientists have observed female mongoose using the cover of battle to sneak off and mate with the enemy troop.

Male peacocks make a distinctive hoot when they have wooed a female. In a park in Los Angeles scientists have observed male peacocks faking these successful hoots to attract peahens. Pretending to be popular is a clever con that can get a plucky peacock valuable extra attention.

For over 40 years his research team has been monitoring the breeding behaviour of the Gunison’s prairie dogs on the North American plains.