Explore giraffe reproduction through original research. Read the questions, methods and findings behind each study, with direct links to its sources.
34 articles
Scientific commentary
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
DNA suggests that males connected giraffe populations across Tanzania’s Gregory Rift long after their maternal family lines had become separated.
Scientific commentary
Zoo giraffes were expected to look leaner than their wild counterparts. A scale built from hip photographs revealed the opposite pattern—and a way to monitor condition from a distance.
A Tanzanian study linked giraffe calf survival to the balance of lions and migrating grazers, revealing a connection between animals that eat different foods.
Photographic records from Tanzania reveal how movement connects growing and declining giraffe populations, and why counting animals can miss the difference.
A Tanzanian study found that adding less-protected landscapes changed which life stage explained differences in giraffe population growth.
Dry-season calves survived better in a Tanzanian study, but a reproductive calculation showed why waiting for that season could reduce a mother's output.
A review of fifteen years of giraffe photographs removed duplicate identities and corrected abundance estimates, while still finding strong recovery.
Two nearby Kenyan populations had similar totals but very different age structures, showing why a head count can miss a shortage of young giraffes.
A study of 399 female giraffes linked similar spot shapes to social association, raising a question about recognition without proving how it works.
CT reconstructions of three giraffe heads reveal an adult-like brain blood-supply pattern at birth, alongside changes around developing ossicones.
A study of milk from five giraffes traced chemical changes late in lactation, revealing a transition whose cellular causes still need testing.
A seven-giraffe comparison found that freezing mixtures changed sperm movement after thawing, while showing why movement alone cannot establish fertility.
Photographic identification found a major decline in Arusha’s giraffes, while shared maternal DNA preserved evidence of an older connected landscape.
Giraffe translocation simulations showed that early growth can conceal later demographic and genetic losses, changing what counts as a successful release.
A field study followed male giraffe sparring, finding size-matched partners and strong individual side preferences without proving future fighting success.
Repeated yielding at feeding time revealed ordered relationships in captive giraffes, with age and stable female ranks complicating an egalitarian image.
Tracking two wild populations showed why simply counting giraffes together can conceal partner preferences that become clearest during foraging.
Night observations showed some giraffes remaining active while others rested their heads, raising a careful question about protection within a group.
Laser scans of giraffes, okapis and rhinoceroses show how to compare trunk shape, while exposing the gap between measuring outline and measuring fat.
Photographs of known-age Masai giraffes reveal when body proportions diverge, and why a longer neck must be judged against the rest of the body.
Whole-genome comparisons of 13 zoo giraffes show why mixed ancestry and a high average level of genetic variation can coexist with recent inbreeding.
Northern giraffe genomes revealed long population declines and differing inbreeding histories, but did not clearly recover one recent population crash.
Microscopic study of two pregnancies found hormone-related proteins in maternal, placental and fetal tissues, revealing an unexpectedly distributed system.
Observations at Lake Nakuru found a seasonal shift in one important giraffe food, while the overall share of time spent feeding changed little.
A study of East African giraffe genetics found that the timing of rain distinguished regional groups better than several other habitat measures.
Microscopy revealed two zones of protein signals in giraffe placental cells, a pattern absent from the other ruminants examined in the comparison.
A newborn giraffe developed muscle damage linked to low vitamin E even though its mother’s estimated dietary supply exceeded cited giraffe feeding guidance.
Field observations and dung samples in Zimbabwe linked mature male giraffes’ changing courtship activity to hormone changes over days and weeks.
A study of 22 giraffe mothers separated age from previous births to investigate why some females allow calves more nursing time.
Male calves had longer suckling bouts in a four-zoo study, including bouts ended by the nursing female. Time at the udder did not measure milk intake.
A Knowsley Safari case study followed two male giraffes through an intervention, reduced sparring and a later reversal in their relationship.
Five years of giraffe sightings in Tanzania distinguished the number and reach of social connections from the strength of close relationships.
Two Kenyan populations both showed preferred companions, yet differed in association strength and connectedness under a shared observation method.
