Which of the following animals has the shortest typical gestation period?

Lions have the shortest gestation period compared with the other animals in the list. It lasts for 4 months. A female lion can give birth to one to five cubs per litter. Lion cubs are very small at birth, weighing around 2 - 3 pounds, they come into the world helpless with their eyes closed. Their mothers must protect them until they are able to defend against predators and hunt for themselves. She gives them her milk and brings them food. After six weeks, the mother leads her cubs to an animal that she has killed to give them their first taste of meat. The cubs begin hunting on their own after 11 months.

Sheep have a gestation period of around 5 months. Usually they can give birth to one or two lambs.

The gestation period of baboons is around 6 months. They give birth to one infant and hold them with one hand and carry them next to their stomachs when they travel.

On average, the gestation period of a cow is 9 months. Usually there is only one calf per birth.

More Info: animalcorner.co.uk

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39 Comments

Leapy Lee

Yet another incorrect answer. Both a cat and a hedgehog have shorter gestation periods than a lion!

Richard Rubright

Hedgehogs average 35 days. Look it up.

Doris Dallaire

Why does the explanation mention a sheep and a baboon when they aren’t even an option? Why does it not talk about the hedgehog and the cat?

Rafi Manory

hedgehog is the shortest for the list. There was no sheep in the question. Throw away!

Iswardew Matai

This insane. Hedgehog gestation period 35 days and for cats 65 days. So the answer is totally wrong. Seems like they don't review the questions anymore.

Val Sweet

Both the cat and hedgehog have shorter gestation periods. Thankyou for losing me my bonus with this ridiculous question. And why aren't the cat and hedgehog mentioned in the explanation. Doesn't anyone check the answers to questions for accuracy 😡😡

jsdbie

Sorry but a cat has the shortest..not the lion..a cat's gestation is approx 2 months so this answer is wrong.. owes me point 🐾

Donna Carder-Kummer

That’s not the right answer, the right answer is a hedgehog! There should be someone that monitors these before they are published!

Judy Miller

I am very annoyed that I knew the correct answer but the question is wrong or was changed!!

Carol Rowell

Cats at two months, give or take a few days, are shorter!! Wrong answer.

Sanjay Kumar

Another incorrect answer. Cat and a hedgehog have shorter gestation periods than a lion.

johnbheymann

Oh .. now I understand why the incorrect answer was given , “ Professor “ Carol Whites set the question ! 😢😢😢😂😂😂

johnbheymann

Hedgehog gestation period is 30 tp 40 days and the lion 100 to 120 . So unless my math is incorrect , the correct answer is the hedgehog .

bonniecardona

In your answer QC you didn’t even mention cat or hedgehog which do have a shorter typical gestational period!! So what gives eh QC?????

Buddhadeb Pal

The question setter seems to have considered lions, sheep, baboons and cows. But in the set question sheep and baboons got replaced by cats and hedgehogs. How ??

Louella Wilson

Louella Wilson, how can this question receive 4 thumbs up and 0 thumbs down????

Louella Wilson

What a shocker! Hedgehog is correct at about 1 month. Cat at about 2 months. Made worse by the fact that the so-called source does not even include those 2.

Shelley Durocher

It seems like the author changed the options from a question, but not the answer. I think the explanation is for the original question. Of course hedgehog is the correct answer for these choices.