Adult female giraffes who spend time in larger groups with other females live longer than less sociable individuals. The effects of sociability on survival outweigh other factors such as environment or human presence, a study of giraffes in Tanzania led by the University of Zurich has shown.

Females like to form close-knit communities with other possibly related females, whereas the young males tend to disperse and form loose coalitions (bachelor gangs), and the older males are more independent and roam alone, searching for receptive females.

Girl giraffes need their best friends, as they have higher survival rates when hanging together in herds. Also, hanging out with the girls means that mom has a babysitter to take care of the kids when she wants to get a drink at the waterhole. Studies show that females share nonparental offspring care in giraffe ‘creches’ (aka babysitting).

Other benefits to living in larger groups might be lowering stress levels by reducing harassment from males, or simply experiencing physiological benefits by being around familiar females.

Source: Africa Geographic

https://africageographic.com/stories/how-giraffes-choose-their-besties/