Description
Giraffe calves grow up together with their peers in a kind of nursery school. A female giraffe in the group is their "teacher" and takes care of them while the other mothers go foraging. When predators approach, she immediately alerts the others. The mothers then take up a defensive position in front of their babies and beat the aggressors with their feet. At about four months, the calves begin to pluck leaves from the trees to eat but continue to suckle their mothers for up to nine months.