12 Animal Gestational Periods

Find out about 12 animal gestational periods of different animals on the infographic and article below.

Did you know that the hamster has a gestation period of between 15-17 days? Or that the elephant carries a baby for approximately 2 years?

12 Crazy Facts About Animal Gestational Periods

Lionesses are not in the business of giving birth to cubs in full view of the rest of the pride. They do this completely solitary. Furthermore, they also keep the joys of being a mother to themselves between four to six weeks before introducing them to other members of the pride and the outside world.

Elephants have the longest animal gestational period of all the land mammals. They are pregnant for almost two years! Wowzer! Imagine that!

Giraffe mothers give birth to their young by standing upright. The baby then falls to the ground, but impressively enough, it is able to walk and run about, following its mother in as little as 20 minutes!

Elephants are amongst the most intelligent animals on the planet. If an elephant cow finds her newborn calf not to be moving, she will nudge it with her foot to make it move and become responsive.

Pandas are one of the cuddliest, cutest and clumsiest animals. Unfortunately, it is very hard for a panda to become pregnant. In an article by National Geographic, they provided insightful information to one of the animal kingdom’s most mysterious unsolved mysteries. Apparently, pandas have the ability to reabsorb a fetus.

In dogs, a pregnant bitch can produce a litter of pups between as much as six to eight critters.

Opossums must be the luckiest animals when it comes to carrying babies. They are literally pregnant for as little as 14 days in total!

Monkeys care for each other’s babies, in that one female monkey does not mind serving as a mid-wife for another female’s young when she is giving birth. Talk about community support!

Have you heard that otters can delay the development of their young? Yes, that is right. She can keep it in and postpone the birth to a month that suits her. What a handy trick!

Sticking with the theme of otters; when otter moms need a break from their pups and dive down into the water for a snack, she carefully wraps her pup in some seaweed to prevent it from drifting off.

The hen of the Emperor Penguin clan, leaves all the incubating duties to her partner, while she is off feeding. This can last for a couple of weeks, which means her partner undergoes a fasting phase as he has the responsibility of keeping the egg safe and warm until she returns from her mom-cation.

Are you ready to learn a crazy fact about Koalas? Well, then you might be very surprised to learn the following about them. The male koala has a double-headed penis and the female has no less then three vaginas! While you take a moment to absorb that information…the third vagina is used for birthing purposes. You are welcome!

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Below is a cool infographic and some other interesting animal facts for your reading pleasure. We hope that you enjoy this article as much as what we have enjoyed compiling it.

Stay tuned for more cool articles about the miracles that is animals and what makes them unique!

Animal Gestational Periods

If you enjoyed this infographic, why not check out this video on the gestation period of a pig.

We have also created a very insightful article on cow gestation for your reading pleasure.