What to Know
- April the Giraffe captivated millions around the world as they waited and watched for months in anticipation of the birth of her 4th calf
- She did that on April 15, 2017, and hundreds of thousands of people tuned in to watch the delivery live
- Though Tajiri was April's fourth calf, it was the first for April's handsome but younger mate Oliver; her fifth calf is expected soon
April the Giraffe, the long-necked, spotted beauty from New York's Animal Adventure Park who captivated the globe for months as she prepared for the birth of her fourth calf in 2017, is very close to delivering her fifth.
The zoo said in a Facebook post Saturday that she was progressing, perhaps quicker than expected, and "we are very much moving towards having a calf."
Noting 2017's labor date projections stretched on for weeks if not months, keeping hundreds of thousands of people on the edge of their chairs and glued to the YouTube feed, the zoo acknowledged, "Hey -- we've been wrong before."
At this point, it appears April will deliver in the next few weeks, likely before the end of March, the zoo says.
Animal Adventure Park announced April's fifth pregnancy live on the "Today" show in July. Yes, Oliver is the father.
Giraffe pregnancies usually last about 15 months, but Patch said, "April likes to go 16, 17, 18, 19 ..." -- you remember. The last time she was pregnant, it seemed to take so long for her to go into labor that some fans started to question whether in fact she was with calf at all. She was, indeed.
Her newest calf, Tajiri, celebrated his first birthday in April, and nearly 50,000 people tuned into a livestream to watch him celebrate.
Tajiri — Swahili for "hope" — and his mom April were catapulted into the upper echelon of the viral animal world when the zoo started livestreaming April's fourth pregnancy in February 2017.
After months of waiting, April gave birth April 15 in Harpursville, New York, while an audience of hundreds of thousands watched live online. The baby was born at just under 130 pounds and more than 5 feet tall.
Local
April teased her millions of global adorers for weeks, showing signs of near-but-not-quite labor and otherwise enchanting her audience with cute right-at-the-camera gazes and tongue flicks, snack noshing and nuzzling with her much younger but handsome beau, Oliver. Tajiri was Oliver's first baby.
