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Updates From the Field and News From Wild Nature

Rare Instance of a Giraffe Mother Allowing Several Calves to Nurse

2/1/2019

2 Comments

 
 Allonursing (or allosuckling) is when a mother nurses young that are not her own. It is rarely seen in wild giraffes. For example, Pratt and Anderson (1979) reported that out of 860 observations of nursing attempts in Serengeti National Park, just 37 were by an unrelated calf, and just one unrelated calf was successful in getting any milk. In Katavi National Park, Saito and Idani (2018) documented only 5 of 71 allonursing attempts were successful, These two previous studies of wild giraffe allonursing concluded that this phenomenon happens when the mother appears to be unaware that the nursing calf is not her own. Thus, the authors of these studies believe the instigator of allonursing is unrelated calves stealing milk from unwitting mothers.
However, in Wild Nature Institute's recent giraffe survey, we witnessed a remarkable case of simultaneous multiple-calf allonursing. We watched an adult female approach a group of calves, and 3 of the calves immediately ran over and began suckling from her. She allowed this nursing for well over a minute!  She appeared to be perfectly aware of the situation, and given that the calves rushed to her when they saw her, we suspect she has given her milk to these calves before.
Picture of three calves nursing from a giraffe in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. Copyright Wild Nature Institute.
Three calves nursing from a giraffe in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. Copyright Wild Nature Institute.
Why did this happen? We have documented 82 extended nursing bouts (when a calf was observed to suckle for more than 10 seconds) during our 8 years of giraffe research in the Tarangire region, but this is the very first time we've seen more than one calf allowed to suckle - let alone 3 calves! Perhaps she lost her calf and still has milk that she is sharing with calves in her herd. Or, one of the nursing calves could be her own, but she is apparently allowing unrelated calves to also have her milk, so this does not appear to be milk theft.  A concern is that her own calf may be deprived of some of the milk it needs for rapid growth. Whatever the context, this was a rare and interesting instance of simultaneous multiple-calf allonursing. Giraffes continue to surprise us!

Have you observed allonursing?
Tell us about it.
#doublemothersucker
Picture of three calves nursing from a giraffe mother in Tarangire National Park. Copyright Wild Nature Institute.
Three calves nursing from a giraffe mother in Tarangire National Park. Copyright Wild Nature Institute.
2 Comments
Royce J Vassi link
2/2/2019 10:29:57 am

There are four giraffe at the Topeka Zoo (giraffe cam website above). Abi and Hope are the mothers. Hope's daughter, Lizzie, is about 5 months old. Konza, Abi's son, is about 6 months old. They both nurse from each of their aunts, usually together, on a daily basis.

Reply
pam palmquist link
2/3/2019 05:34:31 am

Hope (from Topeka Zoo in Kansas, USA) has allowed Konza to join in on nursing sessions with Lizzie for months. Abi on the other hand, never let Lizzie join in with her son Konza until recently and now both of them nurse together from both mothers every day ... This can be seen on their live Webcam sponsored by ktwu.org/giraffes

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