When it comes to survival, nature is often painted as a battlefield – predators versus prey, competition over territory and a constant struggle to stay one step ahead.
Yet hidden among the usual dramas of the wild are rare and remarkable partnerships that seem to defy the rules entirely. Have some animals discovered that teamwork can be a powerful tool?
Weirdest animal duos
Warthogs and mongooses
Many mammals indulge in mutual grooming to remove ticks and other parasites from their fur and skin but, aside from the occasional intriguing anecdote, it is unheard of for one mammal species to groom another.
But Andy Plumptre of the Wildlife Conservation Society reports that just such cross-species co-operation regularly occurs between warthogs and banded mongooses in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park.
“Sometimes the warthogs are upright and the mongooses stand on their hind legs to find ticks, and at other times they lie down and allow the mongooses to crawl over them,” Plumptre told BBC Wildlife.
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Greater honeyguide and humans
In parts of Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, the greater honeyguide forms a partnership with humans in which both parties benefit. The little brown bird feeds on wild honeybee nests – in particular, the larvae and waxy structure. The problem is, bees’ nests are sturdy and well defended. So the honeyguide asks for assistance.
Having found a nest in a tree, it uses a squeaky call to attract the attention of people nearby, then repeatedly flies a short way and calls again, guiding its helpers to the nest like a feathery satnav. The human honey hunters climb the tree and soon are sharing the spoils with their guide.
Oxpeckers and rhino
The relationship between oxpeckers and the large mammals from which they pick ticks is a complex one. It was long thought to be a straightforward case of mutual benefit, until it was realised that the birds also open wounds and drink their hosts’ blood, suggesting the relationship leans towards the parasitic.
Now, though, Roan Plotz of Australia’s Victoria University has discovered that red-billed oxpeckers provide another important service for black rhinos – one that might incline the pachyderms to tolerate a bit of vampirism: they warn their hosts of approaching danger.
“Every single time the birds call, the rhinos respond immediately and almost always re-orientate to face downwind,” says Plotz. “Being blind as bats and reliant on their sense of smell, they can’t detect people approaching from that direction.”
Zebras and ostriches
When you're a prey animal, getting early warning of approaching predators is essential – especially in the African bush, where danger is never far away. For this reason, it makes perfect sense to team up with other species that have senses different from your own. That’s exactly what zebras and ostriches do.
Zebras have excellent hearing and a strong sense of smell, but their eyesight is relatively poor. Ostriches, by contrast, have exceptional vision – able to see up to 3.5 km and detect predators day or night – but they rely on zebras’ superior hearing and sense of smell. Together, they form an effective early-warning partnership.
Clownfish and anemones
Each clownfish species has co-evolved to live within one or more of 10 different anemones for almost their entire lives. In fact, this mutualistic relationship is one of the key triggers for the fish’s diversity.
Different anemones live in different habitats, so clownfish have adapted and diversified accordingly. In a wonderful example of symbiosis, the fish provide their hosts with cleaning services and protection, chasing off anemone predators such as butterflyfish, whose long mouthparts can bypass the plant’s sting.
Nitrogen from the fish’s excrement also enables the algae within the anemone’s tissues to carry out photosynthesis, which nourishes both algae and anemone. In return, the plant provides a safe home for both algae and clownfish.