It sounds like a tall tale, but this giraffe romance has managed to captivate the world for more than a month.
What to Know
- April the giraffe has finally given birth to a baby boy, but he still needs a name, says the Animal Adventure Park zoo, where he was born
- The zoo is holding a contest to name the little guy, and people can pay $1 per vote at name aprilscalf.com
- Top choices for names are Patches, Unity, Peter, Apollo and Harpur, the zoo says
After a few days of "nursing like a champ," April's calf is up nearly an entire pound and a half, Animal Adventure Park, the upstate New York zoo where the little guy was born, said.
"He is quite spunky and independent," the zoo said. "Perhaps he takes after his father."
Keepers are smitten by the newly-born calf and say they see signs of friendliness and keeps up with the genuine nature of his mother.
Animal Adventure Park is offering the public a chance to give him one at nameaprilscalf.com, where anyone who wants to vote on a name can do so for $1 per vote. There is a five-vote minimum, and people can vote as many times as they want.
The contest is being held for 10 days, and then a second round of voting, which will be narrowed down to the top 10 names, will be held for five days.
Funds raised will be split between the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, Ava's Little Heroes and Animal Adventure Park.
The zoo said late Monday that some top picks for possible names are "Patches, Unity, Peter, Apollo and Harpur."
As for April, she is recovering well and has quite the appetite, the zoo said.
"She did have a minor misstep this afternoon that lead her to favor her one leg; but that has already improved," the zoo said. "It's hard dancing around a little one."
The adorable little guy stands 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs about 130 pounds, Animal Adventure Park reports.
After months of waiting, April gave birth Saturday in Harpursville, New York, while an audience of about 1.2 million people watched live online.
The calf's spindly legs wobbled as he attempted to stand on its own. But shortly before noon, the zoo shared an adorable photo of April nuzzling him while he stood beneath her trying to nurse.
"All is well," the caption read.
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 5-year-old beau.
Local
April's pregnancy was catapulted into global headlines in late February after YouTube briefly yanked the zoo's live 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.
Patch said the natural curiosity surrounding giraffes and their birthing process was 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'll 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 was more than just live entertainment, but a teachable moment and source for education.
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