Gestation and lactation can impose substantial energetic costs on female mammals. We developed a non-invasive means to determine reproductive condition in female giraffe using fecal steroid analysis. Giraffe may be especially challenged during their reproductive cycle because of two characteristics: they are impregnated while lactating and they do not breed seasonally. We studied the social behavior and endocrinology of seven female giraffe in a large naturalistic outdoor enclosure in order to chart connections between maternal physiology and behavior across the