Nighttime Suckling Behavior in Captive Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata)
Suckling behaviors are useful to better understand mother–offspring relationships. However, in many species, knowledge about nighttime suckling behavior is sparse. In the present study, we investigated suckling behavior in four calves of the reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) and their mother in the Kyoto City Zoo, Japan, by analyzing video clips of 9614 h. The […]
Growth, husbandry, and diets of five successfully hand-reared orphaned giraffe calves (giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi and giraffa camelopardalis reticulata)
Giraffe in the wild are in ongoing decline because of poaching and habitat loss and fragmentation, and were recently assessed as ‘‘vulnerable’’ on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. Captive breeding and saving each individual are therefore becoming more important to save this species from extinction. This paper […]
Suckling and allosuckling behavior in wild giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi)
Allosuckling has been reported in many mammalian species. In giraffe, allosuckling has been observed in captivity, and the milk theft hypothesis with reciprocity is regarded as the likeliest explanation for this behavior. However, reports of such behavior in the wild remain sparse to non-existent. Here, we studied the suckling and allosuckling behaviors of three nursing […]