Giraffe up. The calf emerges head and front legs first, having broken through the fetal membranes, and falls to the ground, severing the umbilical cord. The mother then grooms the newborn and helps it stand up. A newborn giraffe is tall. Within a few hours of birth, the calf can run around and is almost indistinguishable from a one-week-old. However, for the first 1–3 weeks, it spends most of its time hiding; its coat pattern providing camouflage. The ossicones, which have lain flat while it was in the womb, become erect within a few days. Mothers with calves will gather in
Rothschild's giraffe giving birth to a single calf. They live in small herds, with males and females (and their calves) living separately, only mixing for mating. Giraffes in general are classified as vulnerable. Very few locations are left where Rothschild's giraffe can be seen in the wild, with notable spots being Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya and Murchison Falls National Park in northern Uganda. Various captive breeding programmes are in place — notably at the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi, Kenya — which aim to expand the gene pool in the wild population of Rothschild's giraffe. , more than 450 are kept