冰雪世界 7

Males begin to serenade

and if a female replies they pair up,

posing like statues

New couples quickly form a strong bond

They seem oblivious to the noisy crowd around them

To cement their relationship

the male steps out with his female

The brief courtship complete

There isn't a moment to lose

With so much pressure to perform

any male would struggle to stay on top

Several weeks later

and it seems that most couplings were successful

but producing the egg has taken its toll

The females no longer have the energy to incubate

The male takes over

It's still minus 20 degrees centigrade,

so the transfer must be done quickly

or else the egg will freeze

With no bare rock to nest on the male tucks

the egg into a special pouch

where he can keep it warm

It requires an extraordinary piece of teamwork