What’s more adorable than a baby animal? A baby animal trying to take its first steps. These cute critters get up and get as soon as they're born.
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Giraffes
Giraffes are among the hooved animals that can walk minutes after they’re born, but you might be shocked at just how early these long-limbed cuties do it. Baby giraffes take their first adorably wobbly steps 30 to 60 minutes after making their big debuts. Stephanie Mantilla, a former keeper at the Houston Zoo, says that after a 14-month gestation, a baby giraffe drops “6 feet straight to the ground” when being born. Though it looks like the fall might hurt their long legs and neck, instead “it helps them, by encouraging the calf to take their first breath,” she explains. Sadly, these tall and spindly creatures are among the wild animal species that are critically endangered.
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Okapis
Nicknamed “forest giraffes,” okapis are closely related to giraffes but look more like a cross between a brown horse and a zebra. Similar to giraffes, okapi babies gestate for 15 months and have the ability to walk quickly after being born. However, unlike giraffe babies, okapi calves have a much shorter distance to drop before hitting solid ground.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, these wild animals are found only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Stateside, one place you can see these elusive animals is at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando. If you do see them, look for this strange talent: “An okapi’s tongue is so long that they can lick their own ears,” says Mantilla.
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Zebras
What’s black and white and can stand up 30 minutes after being born? A baby zebra! A zebra foal stays with its mother, separate from the rest of the herd (also known as a dazzle—really!), for a few days after it’s born, so that it can learn the unique smell of its mother. The Nashville Zoo, which is home to a small herd of zebras, says that zebra births can happen at any time of the year and that foals become independent of their mothers after about three years.
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Horses
Like baby zebras, baby horses are called foals. When born, foals immediately attempt to move their head and neck and rise up, but they usually remain on their chests for about 15 minutes before they develop the strength to stand on four legs. But once they do, look out! Horse foals are able to stand and walk within an hour or two after their arrival in the world, and they can trot and gallop two hours after that. Interestingly, lying down is harder for them, and it may take a few tries before they develop the proper coordination.
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Marine iguanas
These long-lived lizards that look like small gray dragons are able to run as soon as they hatch. And they need to because many predators, like racer snakes, are waiting to eat them. On the “Islands” episode of the BBC’s Planet Earth II, you can watch dramatic footage of racer snakes chasing a marine iguana. (Don’t worry—he survives, but barely!) In the wild, marine iguanas, which live only on the Galápagos Islands, can eventually grow to about 22 pounds.
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Gnus
Gnus, which are also called wildebeests, are found in southern and eastern Africa. As a survival strategy, about 500,000 gnus are born every year in just a few weeks in the southern Serengeti and Ndutu Plains of Africa, and predators like lions, cheetahs and hyenas are ready to pounce. It takes just a few minutes for the 45-pound baby wildebeests to start walking, and they soon join millions of other animals in what is known as the Great Migration.
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Pigs
Piglets are able to stand and walk almost as soon as they’re born, according to New Scientist. And over the course of the next few hours, their walking skills improve greatly. By the time they’re 8 hours old, they have full control over their motor skills. Moreover, pigs also understand emotions, show empathy and are incredibly intelligent. In an experiment, 6-week-old piglets learned the concept of mirror reflection in just a few hours—something that takes human babies months to figure out. That’s just one reason why they are probably smarter than you.
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Guinea pigs
Just like pigs, guinea pig pups are one of those animals that can walk as soon as they’re born. Fun fact: Guinea pigs aren’t related to pigs at all. Guinea pigs are rodents, originating from South America. In addition to being able to walk on the day they’re born, baby guinea pigs also start eating solid food right away too. However, they continue to drink their mother’s milk for their first three weeks of life. Another surprising fact: Guinea pigs are able to have babies of their own when they’re just 1 month old.
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Camels
According to Live Science, baby camels can walk just 30 minutes after they’re born. While there are a lot of baby animals that can walk minutes after they’re born, not many can do some of the unusual things that camels can do. During sandstorms, for instance, camels can close their nostrils to stop sand from blowing up their noses and can protect their eyes with two rows of eyelashes and a third transparent eyelid. Yep, even the babies.
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Alpacas
A baby alpaca can stand and walk between 15 and 90 minutes after arriving in the world. Originally from the green valleys of Peru and near the Andes mountains, these wiggle-tailed wonders are related to camels. Surprisingly, alpacas are actually covered in fiber, not fur, and that fiber is both stronger and warmer than sheep’s wool.
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Sources:
- Sara Ochoa, DVM, veterinary consultant at the Canine Journal
- Stephanie Mantilla, former zookeeper and animal trainer at Curiosity Trained
- World Wildlife Fund: “Okapi, Found In Only One Place of the World”
- Nashville Zoo: “Nashville Zoo at Grassmere”
- Equus: “Understand Normal Mare and Foal Behavior”
- BBC Earth: “A Baby Iguana Is Chased By Snakes”
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre: “Galapagos Islands”
- Nndeeafrika: “Wildebeest Calving Season in the Serengeti”
- New Scientist: “Tottering Piglets Can’t Walk At First But Learn Super-Fast”
- Animal Behaviour: “Pigs Learn What a Mirror Image Represents And Use It To Obtain Information”
- Live Science: “Guinea Pig Facts”
- Live Science: “Camels: Facts, Types & Pictures”
- Alpaca Owners Association: “About Alpacas”
