When you're the newborn offspring of the world's tallest land mammal, your entry into the animal kingdom is basically a long and unceremonious drop to the ground. This amazing footage of a giraffe birth was filmed in South Africa's Sabi Sands Game Reserve and it captures the entire (at times slightly icky, we'll warn you) process. 

You might have watched Dallas Zoo's reticulated giraffe Katie giving birth back in April, but wild births are a much riskier proposition, and newborns are hardcore little survivors. Since giraffes give birth standing up (after a gestation period of around 15 months!), calves start their lives with a drop of up to two metres down to the ground, which helpfully severs the umbilical cord in the process. 

And things don't get any easier from there. Since baby giraffes make a great snack for any number of lurking predators, the youngsters waste no time getting up and about: they're walking within an hour of birth. That said, giraffes are pretty protective mothers and have been known to incapacitate a lion or two while defending their young.