The animal kingdom is driven by passion – whether its the enduring bonds that last a lifetime like swans or the short, intense, fleeting, whirlwind romances of jaguars and snow leopards, finding a partner is a fundamental part of survival.
We've gathered together some of the best tales of romance and wooing from the world of wildlife.
World's most romantic animals
Long-tailed tits
These tiny, social birds spend their winters in large flocks of about 20, before pairing up for the rest of mating season. Ironically, this begins to happen around Valentine's Day in February every year. Their courtship has something of a Jane Austen-style sweetness to it, with birds darting through hedgerows with their mate.
Together, they build intricate nests to raise their young – all with the help of close relatives. For long-tailed tits, it really does 'take a village'. Due to their tiny size, it takes them up to three weeks to construct their dome-shaped nests. Both parents play a critical role in looking after their 6-8 eggs, from late March or April, and are helped by relatives throughout the process.
Snow leopards
The courting period between male and female snow leopards is short but sweet, with a few days of intense passion as the pair mate several times a day. WWF photographer Luo Xiaoyun recently witnessed a pair high in the mountains of Shiqu County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Luo has been watching the family of the female snow leopard Zhuoma since 2020. In a recent encounter, Luo saw the courtship between Zhuoma and a persistent male snow leopard, Dawa.
"They spent five days together," Luo says. "During this time, they were inseparable, much like human couples in the throes of passion, sharing every moment together without eating or showing any interest in the nearby blue sheep.”
Jaguars
Male jaguars will pursue a potential mate for a week or so, before he then mates with her up to 100 times a day. Monitoring teams from WWF Peru have been watching two jaguars, Gishkopi (meaning 'Brave') and Ksuru (meaning 'Lightning'), who have been spotted sharing moments of courtship.
Male jaguars will often travel huge distances to mate with females, and the process of pairing up is noisy: there are growls and roars to communicate.
Gishkopi and Ksuru are yet to mate, but WWF Peru are keeping a close eye on them...
Amazon river dolphins
Gift-giving is a common way of showing love across the animal kingdom (humans included). Amazon river dolphins give gifts of sticks, rocks and sometimes even live turtles, while performing impressive acrobatics to woo a mate. They will pick up sticks and weeds and throw them against the surface of the water in a flashy display.
Amazon (or 'pink') river dolphins are born a blueish grey colour, but they develop a pink colouring as they age – the males with a more vibrant shade of pink than the females. When he is excited, this pink colour intensifies further to attract females.
Orb-weaving spiders
In an operatic display of love, male spiders offer themselves up as a sacrifice to their partner in the service of mating. Their fatal act of mating helps ensure the survival of future generations.
The male orb-weaving spider will approach cautiously, vibrating his body against the web as he moves towards her. The female spider will often eat the father of her future children, which is said to provide additional nutritional benefits for her offspring. The orb-weaving spider is just one of several spiders who die during sex – there is a common theme among strong female spiders here, it seems.
Find out why some animals die during or after sex here.
Prairie vole
The tiny prairie vole is one of the most committed rodent species, with lifelong relationships established between males and females who mate together the first time.
They live together throughout the year, groom one another and huddle together to keep warm. Nevertheless, they are known to have extra-marital relations and copulate outside their pair – their social monogamy is perhaps stronger than their sexual exclusivity.
We included the prairie vole in our round-up of animals that mate for life.
Macaroni penguins
Macaroni penguins are another monogamous breed, meeting every year at their nest location and identifying one another through their calls. Their mating ritual involves an 'ecstatic display', in which a penguin bows forward, makes loud throbbing sounds and then extends its head in the air. They then spend time together preening each other and bowing.
