GIRAFFE BABYSITTING

At the Greater Ukuwela Nature reserve, we recently celebrated the births of two beautiful giraffe calves, born within a week of each other. While many stories are told about the complex social bonds of elephant families, giraffe’s social lives are relatively under-studied and not often in the limelight. Our latest blog explores the fascinating world of giraffe nurseries and the complex social interactions between giraffe mothers, their offspring, and other females within the group.

The two newest additions to The Greater Ukuwela Nature reserve. Photo by Chantelle Melzer.

Did you know that female giraffes collectively help raise their calves, and form babysitting groups?

It may surprise you to have not heard about the amazing bonds that giraffe share with each other. Historically, giraffes were considered solitary unintelligent animals who didn’t socialize, or communicate vocally other than with basic sounds like snorts and grunts. However, giraffe are (unsurprisingly!) far more intelligent than first understood, thanks to pioneer giraffe-loving scientists like Dr Anne Innis Dagg, who began to pay attention and study giraffe behavior.

A mother giraffe and her newborn calf at our Ukuwela Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa. Photo by Chantelle Melzer.

Giraffe do indeed communicate with each other in many ways – including audibly - mostly beyond the range of human ears (including a recent discovery that they hum to each other at night time!)

Recent research has also shined new light on giraffe social bonds. While giraffes may not have Facebook, they too live their lives in relationships that radiate into wide, layered social networks – including giraffe kindergarten groups. Once individual giraffe in a group are identified, then their interactions can be studied, shining light on their social bonds, friendships and connections, including for the giraffe of Ukuwela.

With the arrival of many giraffe calves at Ukuwela since their reintroduction in 2017, it is fascinating and beautiful to observe and understand the connections between mothers and their calves. Female giraffes are in many ways like matriarchal elephants, playing a pivotal role in the social dynamics of their species – including in the protection and raising of their young. Female-bonded kin groups are at the core of giraffe society, with up to three generations of maternal kin ‘sticking together’. In other words, female giraffe prefer to be with their mothers, and also their female friends, preferentially joining groups with other females and relatives.

These social bonds help when it comes to caring for calves. Giraffe form groups known as "creches," which function similarly to daycare centers. In these groups, one female, often a mother, supervises the calves while the other females forage. These groups typically consist of 2-3 mother-calf pairs and occasionally include non-mother females who contribute to caregiving responsibilities. Such stable group formations enhance survival by allowing for collective foraging and lessening risks posed by predators.

And what about the role of giraffe grandmas? Giraffe are long-lived, with the eldest female giraffe age of 28 recorded in Zambia thank to research by Fred Berocovitch in 2017, Board member at our partner, the Anne Innis Dagg Foundation, and a giraffe behavior expert. This is not by mistake in nature. Female giraffe live for up to 8 years after being able to reproduce – meaning the grandmothers play an important role in giraffe societies through social learning, experienced care of offspring, and knowledge transfer. In our society, we call that wisdom.

A bonding moment between a new mother and her calf caught on camera by Chantelle Melzer.

In contrast, male giraffes exhibit a different social dynamic. Upon reaching maturity around 15 months of age, males leave their maternal groups to join all-male groups, where dominance is established through behaviors such as "necking"—a form of physical contest to determine hierarchy and mating opportunities. These male groups are fluid, varying daily based on resource availability and mating strategies. However, it doesn’t mean they forget about their old nursery group friends. A 2021 study, collecting data over 5 years on the social network of more than 1,000 giraffe in Tanzania, found that while female giraffe have closer ‘friends’ than male giraffe, male giraffe have more ‘acquaintances’. They also found that young males have the most social ties and move most often among groups, reflecting social exploration as they prepare to disperse away from their mothers.

The social behavior of giraffes extends beyond mere caregiving and bachelor groups. In the wild, they have been observed showing signs of distress or potential grieving when a member of their group dies. Researchers have documented giraffes standing over the lifeless body, engaging in behaviors such as sniffing and pawing the carcass, circling around it, and staying in the area for hours or even days.

Many herd members likely grew up together in nursery groups, reinforcing their social bonds. While herd compositions are mostly composed of friends and relatives, they change dynamically. Giraffes, therefore, are highly social animals living within a complex societal framework, bonded to each other in complex ways we are only just beginning to understand.

Our beautiful giraffe (with our two new additions) standing proud and tall on land that was previously used for pineapple farming.

At Wild Tomorrow's Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve, we have been privileged to observe some of these fascinating cooperative social behaviors, including the formation of a creche with our recently born calves. We are very excited that our giraffe population is flourishing on land that was previously used for farming. This demonstrates the importance of habitat protection and restoration, especially given that giraffe populations have declined by about 40% over the last 30 years due to habitat loss and poaching.

Recognizing that giraffe have a complex cooperative social system and live in matrilineal societies is not just interesting and heartwarming – it also has important consequences for their conservation and management. For example, moving individuals selectively without consideration of their family groups and relationships, could negatively impact the health and well-being of the population by destabilizing the intricate web of social relationships.

“It’s a beautiful thought that in the dark of a wild night, giraffe ‘sing’ to each other under the moonlight”, says Wild Tomorrow co-founder Wendy Hapgood, “And by day, seeing giraffe together in family groups at Ukuwela, mothers baby-sitting while youngsters explore their new world and each other, is truly heart-warming. I hope that this new understanding of the complex communication and social connections between giraffe, similar to those we shared by elephants and within our own human families, will help foster empathy for giraffe. And with this deeper empathy, a stronger will to conserve the species. Can we find it in our hearts to help save giraffe?”.

To support habitat protection and restoration for giraffes and other species that share their environment, consider donating to our habitat protection and restoration program. Every contribution, whether small or large, makes a significant impact for giraffe and all species who share their wild spaces.

References

Anne Innis Dagg. Giraffe : Biology, Behaviour and Conservation. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Bercovitch FB, Berry PSM (2017) Life expectancy, maximum longevity and lifetime reproductive success in female Thornicroft's giraffe in Zambia. African Journal of Ecology 55: 443–450.

Cara Giaimo. NY Times 7 August 2021. Giraffes May Be as Socially Complex as Chimps and Elephants https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/07/science/giraffes-social-behavior.html

Gruber, Karl. Giraffe spend their evenings humming to each other.  New Scientist.  17 Sept 2015.

Muller, Zoe and Harris, Stephen. 2 August 2001. A review of the social behaviour of the giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis: a misunderstood but socially complex species.  Mammal Review Volume52, pages 1-15, Issue1 January 2022. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mam.12268

Pennsylvania State University – Research News - 27 September 2021. Male giraffe are more socially connected than females. https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/male-giraffes-are-more-socially-connected-females/

For more facts about giraffe, head over to this excellent summary of giraffe facts, created by our friends and partners at the Anne Innis Dagg Foundation.