Newly Born Baby Giraffe Stands Up For The First Time

May 04, 2021

A baby giraffe stumbled through his way learning how to stand after being born in March 2021. Laying in closed-off space with a covered floor, the baby giraffe got some help from his mother while people and even some other giraffes watched.

The creature, scientifically known as Giraffa Camelopardalis, can go through a lengthy pregnancy. Females can be pregnant anywhere from 13 to 15 months. That’s not the only unique fact about their gestation period. Giraffes can become pregnant at five years old, which may seem young, but isn’t when their lifespan is taken into consideration. 

They typically live around 10 to 15 years in the wild with their habitat usually consisting of open fields and tall trees. They don’t have many types of predators and are now located in many kinds of environments. Giraffes are mostly found in Africa but are all over the globe because of zoos and animal sanctuaries. The maximum recorded lifespan of a giraffe is 30 years.

The viral video of the mother helping her baby stand was posted on March 14, 2021, but has already made plenty of people swoon with happiness. It’s easy to see why. With the help and love from his mother, the baby giraffe tried his best to stand, never giving up during the process.

The process for giraffes learning how to stand can take around an hour to achieve. While it’s unclear how long the video took place after the mother gave birth, it’s evident that her patience had not dwindled. The mother continued peppering her child with love, encouraging him to keep trying.

There are many unique features about giraffes. Their incredible speed is a surprising way giraffes protect themselves from potential predators, like lions and crocodiles. According to Wonderopolis, they can gallop up to 30 miles per hour. Their height is another advantage to staying safe from predators. Giraffes are the tallest animals in the animal kingdom, helping them see any incoming danger.

Their most prominent feature is their long neck. According to Wonderopolis, it has seven vertebrae, reaching over 10 inches long. The overall length of their neck is around seven feet, which helps the animals reach their food source high in the trees. 

Strangely enough, giraffes are actually picky eaters. Their diet consists of around 93 different plant species, but giraffes tend to favor acacia trees, according to the African Wildlife Foundation. 

An even weirder fact is their tongues are not a soft pink color like a lot of other animals. They’re actually a blueish-purple color. On top of that, they’re long enough to help giraffes with reaching their food.

Their neck is surprisingly too short to reach the ground, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Giraffes have to either bend their knees or spread their legs wider to get closer to the ground to reach the surface layer of their water source. Luckily they don’t need much water to survive, drinking some only every few days.

Giraffes’ necks are impressive both in height and use. They use their necks to fight with each other in an act known as necking. Giraffes that are more successful as fighters tend to be more successful when being picked to breed.

The way giraffes are welcomed into the world is definitely a unique experience. Giraffes actually give birth while standing up. This means that the baby is left to freefall after being born. For most, this means a fall of around five feet before the baby meets the ground. Luckily, giraffes have thick skulls to help keep their babies’ brains safe when they take their tumble at birth.

After the tumble, the baby giraffe’s mother will usually show a lot of love and affection, encouraging the baby to stand. It generally takes around one hour for the newborn to stand. The little one is already six feet tall, and will one day potentially pass its mother’s height. According to the African Wildlife Foundation, baby giraffes can grow up to 2.5 centimeters a day.

Their faces are long with what looks like horns sticking out of the top of their heads. These horns are actually known as knobs. They help protect giraffes from potential head injuries because of the layers of skin and hair.

The baby is very reliant on the mother during the first six months of its life, although it potentially can wean off its mother at the two or three-month mark. Its independence flourishes once it is able to fend for itself. At around six months old, giraffes are usually able to start eating leaves.

Each baby is born looking slightly different from each other. According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, giraffe coat patterns are unique like humans fingerprints, meaning no two are exactly the same.

The video took place just after a mother giraffe gave birth to her newborn baby. The little one was sitting in a crumpled heap on the ground. He reached his already long neck up to receive his mother’s kisses, swaying slightly. The mother continued drowning her baby with affection. 

The newborn felt brave enough to make his first try at standing but didn’t quite make it. The poor thing had a quick tumble but didn’t stay down for too long. The baby took another shot and managed to stand on all four legs, splayed out in a ridiculous manner. 

After a few moments of awkwardly standing, the baby worked to bring his legs a little closer together to help stand in an upright position. Success! He received even more love and encouragement from his mother shortly afterward. His tail swung a bit as he worked on keeping his balance.

The mother’s love for her baby is insurmountable, especially when considering the size of her heart. According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, the heart can weigh up to 11 kilograms. One could say that giraffes are such loving creatures based on bot just how they treat their kin at birth, but also due to having hearts larger than any other land mammals.

The video is not even one minute long but shows the sweet love a mother giraffe has for her baby. The precious moments following this challenge show an extraordinary amount of admiration. Just like how most human parents like to capture their children’s escapades on film, it’s hard to not want to watch the same when it comes to animals.

Have you taken any cute animal videos recently? Or, do you have any you can’t stop watching? Let us know, and check with your friends and family if they have any fun videos or pictures as well. You could also pass this story along to any friends or family members who enjoy animal videos.