In the sun burnt Serengeti, hunger keeps the wildebeests thundering northward, following the rain. A collective intelligence keeps the herd on track, neighbor leading neighbor, along ancestral paths.

 

Testosterone drives young males to flaunt their strength, fleetness and stamina. The plain is awash in hormones. And young male ostriches gyrate in  outlandish displays. But most of the march is a blistering slog, with patient scavengers and predators knowing some will falter. 

 

One of the last born, his young body exhausted beyond measure, simply can not carry on. His mother, caught between the pull of maternity and the need to survive, waits, urges.