Mating in the animal world is thought to be a simple affair that requires little mention when discussing wildlife. More attention has been centred on hunting and fights for territorial controls which are more dramatic and “animal like.”

As it is said in the good book, a man shall leave his place of birth, his father and mother, his brothers and sisters, to go and establish his own family.

A lion in the bush goes through similar experiences. He leaves his family, to go and establish his own pride. But contrary to the case in human, the lion has to fight his way through fortified territories that are already owned by experienced lions. Some even lose their lives in the process. Although he is brought up to believe that he comes from a long lineage of kings, so are those whose territories he must traverse in search of his own.

His luck comes knocking when he bumps into a group of sisters or female friends who are not yet taken. Female lions stay together even in adulthood since they do not have to own a territory. In this case the lucky lion will immediately get down to work, by scent marking his territory. Then he will quickly establish whether any of the females is on oestrous; a term used to describe a female who is ready to mate. Incidentally, the females offer no resistance to the advances. They understand his urgency in establishing a firm grip on things, since if another nomadic male passes by and find a shaky ground, he might take the opportunity to stage a coup d’etat.

That is as far as the lions are concerned. They use brute force, or port luck to own a home. There are other species who use highly specialised methods, that leads to similar achievements. Some of the methods can be hilarious, others comical, and others, outright ridiculous.

 I was doing my normal morning game drive in Shaba national reserve, a place of immense ornithological presence when a scene which can only be described as being out of this world, unfolded right  before my eyes.

A most beautiful figure, akin to an outer space IFO, was walking towards me. It was a figure I could not immediately describe with certainty. It looked like a man-angel. Tall, elegant and although thinly dressed, he knew a thing about matching colours. He had deep-bluish legs that were uncovered up to the massive thighs. His thigh muscles were so evenly developed, you could easily tell he exercised a lot. His whole built epitomised strength and agility. Like an angel, he had the most beautiful wings I had ever seen! Spread over 2 metres on each side, they were a pure black, with white laces on the outside. In the middle of the wings, jutted a long, blue neck, on top of which, a very small head was attached. This made him look rather uneven, something like a late comer in the evolution process.

Suddenly he let his wings drop, as if to cover his thighs. This made him to look like the early Vikings wearing a skirt! He walked on towards me for a few metres, before dropping down on his knees and began what I would call a most amazing dance of all times.

I was so engrossed in the sight before me, that I did not notice another one appear, and join the dance. But this one was not as good looking. That is when it hit me like a block of ice! All along, I had been watching a complete transformation of a male ostrich (Somali species), performing a mating dance. The dull coloured new comer was the female, accepting the proposal!