ALBANY, N.Y.—April the Giraffe gave birth once again in front of an enthralled YouTube audience on Saturday, March 16.
More than 300,000 watched live as April gave birth to a healthy male calf at around 12:45 p.m., the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York said.
Park officials say the newborn giraffe was on its feet by 1:27 p.m., and nursing by 1:51 p.m.
“Success! With an average 15-month gestation, we are thankful to have a healthy calf on the ground, nursing and bonding with mom,” animal park owner Jordan Patch said. “With wild giraffe numbers plummeting annually, every calf born counts.”
April drew more than 232 million YouTube live views during a seven-week period in 2017 before she gave birth to Tajiri That came as a surprise for the small zoo 130 miles northwest of New York City.
This is April’s fifth calf and the second for her and Oliver, the dad of Tajiri and the newborn. A naming contest for the new calf will be held soon.
Fans will be able to see the little one face to face when Animal Adventure Park opens for the season on May 1.
Zoo officials said big brother Tajiri, meanwhile, is on his way to starting a family of his own. The park welcomed an adult female giraffe, known as Johari, in January.
April's Livestream
Since Jordan Patch, owner of Animal Adventure Park, announced in a March 6 Facebook post that the delivery was imminent, tens of thousands of fans have been tuned into April’s livestream, posting a constant stream of comments and observations.It’s a replay of 2017, when April drew more than 232 million YouTube live views during the seven weeks leading up to the birth of Tajiri, her fourth calf.
When he started livestreaming April’s pregnancy in 2017, Patch never expected to draw worldwide attention to his small zoo 130 miles northwest of New York City.
“We were helping our local fan base tune in,” Patch said. “Then it grew to what it became, and we were no longer just informing a small population, we were educating a world of interested parties.”
At any given moment, 50,000 to 60,000 people are watching the livestream and discussing giraffes, Patch said. That “is bringing awareness to the cause, which is conservation,” he said. Giraffe numbers in Africa have plunged by 40 percent over the last 30 years, leaving fewer than 100,000 today, according to the nonprofit Giraffe Conservation Foundation.
Patch bristles at suggestions the giraffe cam is motivated by money.
“The entire event is free to the world,” he said. “No one has to pay a cent to participate here. But people are so compelled and moved that they want to support what’s happening.”
“Bittersweet calf watch for me, but wishing the best for April and her calf,” Scullion wrote. “Hey, if it’s a girl, consider Julia for her name?”