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Giraffe males have longer suckling bouts than females

In polygynous mammals, females are expected to bias maternal investment in favor of male calves. The mother should invest more in males to enhance their reproductive success in adulthood, or the males require greater investment as they are bigger and stronger than females. In this study, we used nursing duration to compare the difference in the amount of maternal investment provided by females. We compared differences according to sex of the offspring and the influence of calves’ identification by sniffing,

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Nighttime Suckling Behavior in Captive Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata)

Suckling behaviors are useful to better understand mother–offspring relationships. However, in many species, knowledge about nighttime suckling behavior is sparse. In the present study, we investigated suckling behavior in four calves of the reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) and their mother in the Kyoto City Zoo, Japan, by analyzing video clips of 9614 h. The relation between a calf’s age and the mean duration and frequency of suckling were consistent with the results of previous daytime studies: the longest duration

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Maternal Investment in Captive Giraffes

Sex-biased maternal investment involves differential allocation of resources to production and rearing of sons or daughters as a function of their anticipated reproductive output. We examined reproductive investment among captive giraffe, (Giraffa camelopardalis) over a 21-year period to determine extent to which female invest differentially in offspring by sex. We found an unbiased sex ratio at birth and comparable interbirth intervals following rearing of either sons or daughters. Early neonatal mortality compressed interbirth interval and females probably conceived while lactating.

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