Giraffes are the tallest terrestrial animals on Earth and their mating process is something to behold. It’s also not something captured on camera too often. A rare sighting of two giraffes mating in the Kruger National Park was caught on camera by Graeme Mitchley.
‘Once a male giraffe finds a female in oestrus, he follows her around and chases off all other males. After a gestation of 457 days or little over 15 months a single calf is born, which may weigh up to 60 kg,’ Mitchley writes on YouTube.
Giraffes use a method called the flehmen response, where a male suspecting a female is ready to mate will walk up to her and sniff her rear, encouraging her to urinate. Once she does, the male will taste the urine to confirm that she is ovulating.
‘A courtship will take place wherein the dominant bull displaces younger males whilst the female walks around to ensure that enough time passes for the most dominant bull to remain,’ writes Londolozi Game Reserve on their website. ‘In the final stages the female giraffe, herself, continues to prolong the male until he eventually loses patience and mating will take place a number of brief times over the course of a few hours.’
Take a look at the fascinating process:
‘Giraffes give birth standing up, and the calf falls almost two metres, snapping the umbilical cord in the process. They stand nearly two metres tall, which is necessary for them to be able to reach their mother’s udder,’ Mitchley adds.
Image: Screenshot
