Baby steps before huge milestones.
This baby giraffe is about to discover what his long legs can do. With a little coaxing from mama, of course! It’s amazing to see how small he is and how huge adult giraffes are. While some of us struggle with height… Giraffa camelopardalis are herbivores that can grow up to 19 feet.
Thanks to those long necks and towering legs, they are the world’s tallest mammals. Those legs alone can grow up to six feet tall. So imagine what such tall gearing can do for them. Giraffes can run up to 35 miles an hour over short distances while easily cruising at 10 over longer trips.
But the way females give birth though…
Moms give birth standing up. And being so high up, the baby suffers from a rather painful fall. That’s about five feet to the ground. Baby giraffes can stand in half an hour, all wobbly and shaken. It’s the fall.
Maybe that’s why mom gives her baby a few licks and kisses. It’s not like she meant for him to fall out of her that way! Think of it as a very early lesson about life, kid.
He’ll be much taller and heavier than mom, eventually. He’ll be a bull someday so he needs to learn how to use that skin-covered knob, called ossicones, on the top of his head.
Males use it to battle each other in the wild, swinging their necks at each other called “necking”. Imagine getting hit by one.
This little guy won’t have to, thank goodness. All he has to do is look cute and say hello to all the visitors coming in for a visit.
Females can become pregnant at five years old. Pregnancies last for 15 months and babies can stand 6 feet tall already. That’s not fair, really. I never got to 6 feet…
With a 25 year lifespan, this little giraffe’s got lots of ground to cover. Better get started on those milestones, kid!
Joanne Kroschel is loving the moment,
“She is so beautiful taking care of her sweet baby a mother’s work is never done.❤️”
Mother giraffes are excellent moms. They will stay with their young, protecting them from predators and encouraging them to stand up and explore the world around them. Much like elephants, these mammals are smart.
Learning Lift Off explains,
“Since the young giraffes cannot run fast, its mother will hide it or leave it with other mother giraffe “babysitters”—known as a creche—while she looks for food. Like humans, [the baby giraffes] will start to miss their mother and will wait for her where she was last seen until she comes back. And like most moms, giraffes don’t get much sleep. They are always on guard, protecting themselves and their offspring, so they only get about 30 minutes of sleep a day, usually just a few minutes at a time.”
Poor moms! But that’s why they’re incredible creatures to study.
It’s good to know that this mom and her baby are in safe hands. No risk of predators, poachers, and other unfortunate incidents that may happen towards them.
The little guy eventually makes it on his for legs with mom constantly licking his back. It’s so cute and we can only hope to see more of this baby giraffe in the future!
Watch this baby giraffe make it to his feet below!
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