What to Know
- April has captivated tens of millions of people across the world who have been checking in on her via the live stream
- Giraffe pregnancies last up to 15 months; labor lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few days
- The calf will be the first born at Animal Adventure Park, and the zoo says it will hold a contest to name it once it arrives
A few enrichment toys, more odd behavior and even more back end swelling and pulsing, but still no baby giraffe for April.
As of Wednesday morning, the checkered beauty was still very pregnant and waiting on the arrival of her fourth calf, but vets at the upstate New York zoo streaming her world-famous pregnancy say she's still healthy -- and cranky.
"Dare we say agitated," Animal Adventure Park wrote in its Facebook update late Tuesday. "What the heck was the vet doing today and why was April put off?"
According to the vet report, it may have a bit to do with a little white box -- a Doppler.
"Over the past few weeks I've been trying to desensitize her to seeing, hearing and being touched by it," the vet reported. "It's easy to forget that she is a big and dangerous creature, you have to be real careful with how far you push them."
Those who were watching the stream around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when the vet stopped by would've noticed a "fairly cranky giraffe," the vet said.
Meanwhile, Oliver, April's 5-year-old mate, broke all the new enrichment toys Animal Adventure Park put in his pen Tuesday morning. That guy.
Watch the live stream below.
Nearly 80,000 people were tuned into the stream by 7:30 a.m. Wednesday as April stood in the corner of her pen stretching her long neck out. Oliver was seen gazing at his very pregnant lady from his own pen for a moment, then went and stood in the corner.
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April's pregnancy was catapulted into global headlines late last month after YouTube briefly yanked the zoo's stream following complaints by animal activists that it violated the site's policies concerning "nudity and sexual content." Thousands upon thousands of commenters voiced their frustration on Facebook and YouTube, and the stream was restored within an hour or so.
Jordan Patch, owner of the Animal Adventure Park, says the natural curiosity surrounding giraffes and their birthing process has been a huge factor in drawing crowds.
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"I think the fact that she's a giraffe and she's a neat species that people are interested in, that's fostered a lot of the attention," he said. "The fact that you're gonna get to witness the miracle of birth from an animal that you really don't get to see give birth — that's neat."
He added that April's pregnancy is not just live entertainment, but a teachable moment and source for education.
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Giraffe pregnancies last up to 15 months. Labor lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The calf, which will be the first born at Animal Adventure Park, will be about 150 pounds and 6 feet tall at birth and up and walking in about an hour.
The zoo said it will hold an online competition to name the baby giraffe once it's born.
