<sub>The wild. Compared to how some animals give birth, human moms do not have it so bad after all. But then again a pain is a pain, the birth of pain. Conceiving and bringing out a baby into this world.

      Sea Turtle. A mature nesting female [about 30 years old] usually returns to the same beach where it was hatched to create a nest. Using its hind flippers, it digs a hole 40 to 50 cm deep. The female will lay 150 to 200 eggs in the hole, refill it with sand and then head back to the ocean. Incubation takes two months. When the eggs hatch, these hatchings dig their way out and head to the ocean.

      African Elephant Female elephants can start breeding at age 12. Once a female becomes pregnant, the baby is born between 630 to 660 days later. This is the longest gestation period of any land animal. The baby elephant -- called a calf -- weighs about 90 to 113 kg and stands about 1 metre tall. It is able to walk only two hours after it is born.

      Giraffe Giraffes breed throughout the year, but most often after the rainy season. After gestation period of about 14 to 15 months, a two-metre tall baby giraffe, called a calf, is born. A baby giraffe will weigh about 70 kg when it drops out of its mother womb. When it's born, a baby giraffe really does drop -- almost 1.5 metres to the ground. Only 10 hours hours later, the baby will be runnning with the other giraffes.

      Killer Whale Newborns are about 2.4 metres long and weigh about 136 to 181 kg. They're born in the water and deliveries can be either head-first or tail-first. Killer whale calves nurse under water, close to surface. They nurse for about five to 10 seconds as a time, several times an hour, 24 hours a day, for about 11 months.

      Komodo Dragon Komodo Dragons live alone and look after each other for breeding. After mating, a female Komodo dragon lays about 20 to 40 eggs. Nests are dug in the ground, covered and left unguarded to incubate for eight or nine months.

      Orangutan Mothers raise one child at a time. The child is not weaned for up to three years and rides on its mother's back during at the time. Female usually have one child every six years. This approach tends to produce offspring that are given large amounts of care and nurturing.

      Octopus Within two months after mating, the female releases up to 500,000 eggs! The female will care for the eggs by gently cleaning them with her suckers. Soon after the eggs hatched, the female dies. The tiny hatchlings are carried about in the water currents where they feed on plankton. Only one or two out of 200,000 hatchlings survive to the adult stage. Now that's survival of the fittest!


Sources:graphicnews.com;houstuffworks.com;wikipedia.org</sub>

_{Happy Mother's Day [May 11] to all the mothers in the world}