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
South African giraffe are around 45 giraffes breeding in zoos. South African giraffe The South African giraffe or Cape giraffe ("Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa") is a subspecies of giraffe ranging from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique. It has rounded or blotched spots, some with star-like extensions on a light tan background, running down to the hooves. In 2016, the population was estimated at 31,500 individuals in the wild. The IUCN currently recognizes only one species of giraffe with nine subspecies. The Cape giraffe, along with the whole species, were first known by the binomen "Camelopardalis giraffa" described by German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel