Scientific commentary
Experienced Giraffe Mothers Gave Calves More Nursing Time
Previous births helped explain nursing tolerance, but experience and age were difficult to separate.
Giraffe research, explained.Page 12
The questions, fieldwork and discoveries behind giraffe science. Each story explains an original study, what it found and what remains uncertain.
Research stories
100–108 of 179 stories
Scientific commentary
Giraffes With More Outside Ties More Often Carried Parasites
At Ol Pejeta, links beyond an animal’s usual social circle explained parasite occurrence better than repeated associations within that circle.
Scientific commentary
Can Giraffes Swim? Why Floating Is Only the First Step
Water can support an animal’s weight without giving it an easy way to breathe, steer or move forward.
Scientific commentary
Luangwa’s Giraffes Live Farther South Than Maps Showed
A wider survey documented giraffes beyond their previously mapped range, showing why conservation plans need to look farther along the valley’s rivers.
Scientific commentary
Serengeti Giraffe Declines Point to the Loss of Older Animals
Two Serengeti populations kept producing calves but continued to shrink. Years of individual photographs reveal the importance of keeping older animals alive and resident.
Scientific commentary
A Second Breeding Population Begins for Niger’s West African Giraffes
Recovery had left West African giraffes concentrated in one area. Moving a small group back into their former range created another place for the subspecies to breed.
Scientific commentary
How Giraffes Kept Track as Hidden Food Added Up
A carrot experiment at Barcelona Zoo asked giraffes to follow a meal that changed out of sight—and gave researchers a way to test how they did it.
Scientific commentary
Giraffes Heed Oxpecker Alarms Longer Where Lions Live
A bird’s warning can cost a giraffe a mouthful of leaves. Playback experiments show that the interruption lasts longer in a landscape shared with lions.
Scientific commentary
How Giraffes Chose the Better Odds of a Carrot
Two containers could hold the same number of carrots yet offer very different prospects for a snack. Four giraffes responded to that difference.