The giraffe is one of Africa’s most recognizable animals, distinguished by its towering height and unique patterned coat. These creatures spend much of their lives browsing the highest leaves of the savannah, a feat made possible by their stature. The early life of a giraffe is a story of adaptation, where survival depends on a dramatic start and a rapid growth rate.
The Specific Term: What a Baby Giraffe is Called
A baby giraffe is officially referred to as a “calf.” This term is also used for the young of many other large mammal species, including elephants, whales, and domestic cattle. The plural form is “calves.” The mother is called a cow, while an adult male is a bull.
The First Few Moments of Life
The birth of a calf is a dramatic event, beginning with a fall of about six feet (approximately two meters). The mother gives birth while standing upright, causing the newborn to drop to the ground. This abrupt entry helps to snap the umbilical cord and stimulates the calf to take its first breaths. The newborn is already large, standing about six feet tall, comparable to the height of a fully grown human.
A newborn calf weighs between 100 and 150 pounds, a size made possible by the mother’s 15-month gestation period. Immediately after the fall, the calf must stand up, a maneuver driven by the threat of predators like lions and hyenas. The mother encourages this process with gentle nudges. Most calves succeed in standing on their wobbly legs within the first hour of birth.
The calf’s legs are already nearly 60% of its adult length, providing the necessary stride for running. This rapid mobilization ensures the calf can follow its mother and the herd within hours of birth. Calves can achieve a stable stand in less than an hour and are capable of running within two hours. Standing quickly also allows the calf to reach its mother’s udder and consume colostrum, which provides antibodies.
Early Development and Dependence
Following the struggle for mobility, the calf begins a period of rapid development and dependence. The calf relies on its mother’s milk, typically nursing for 9 to 12 months. The young giraffe begins to experiment with solid foods, such as leaves and shoots, as early as four months of age. This early browsing supplements the milk, but nursing provides the bulk of its nutrition for much longer.
Giraffe mothers often utilize a social structure known as a “crèche,” or nursery, a few weeks after birth. In this system, several calves are left together under the watch of one or two adult females while the other mothers forage and drink. This cooperative arrangement allows mothers to meet their nutritional needs while providing the calves safety in numbers against predators. Calves raised in a crèche have a higher probability of survival than those reared alone.
The growth rate of a young giraffe is high during its first year of life. Calves can grow up to four feet in height during this time, nearly doubling their size at birth. They gain weight daily, demonstrating the effectiveness of the mother’s milk and their transition to a browsing diet. Male calves generally leave their mothers around 15 months of age to join all-male groups, while females may stay with the herd slightly longer, sometimes up to 18 months.