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
Reticulated giraffe with the Rothschild's giraffe, it is by far the giraffe that is most commonly seen in zoos. Its coat consists of large, polygonal, liver-colored spots outlined by a network of bright-white lines. The blocks may sometimes appear deep red and may also cover the legs. Giraffes are the tallest mammals in the world. The IUCN currently recognizes only one species of giraffe with nine subspecies, one of which is the reticulated giraffe. All living giraffes were originally classified as one species by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The subspecies was described and given a binomial name "Giraffa reticulata" by British zoologist