Animal Adventure Park: Wax Caps ‘Thinning,’ Pre-Dawn Birth For April’s Calf?
Animal Adventure Park in New York has given us a ton of new information to work with during their live chat on YouTube on Monday night. Staff members took questions from fans who tuned into the Q&A session, which the zoo has been doing Sunday-Thursday from 8 to 9:30 p.m. EST.
While people all over the world are watching and waiting for April the giraffe to give birth to her fourth calf, the zoo is doing its best to keep people up to speed on what’s going on and teaching them about giraffes too!
Animal Adventure Park has confirmed that April the giraffe is not yet in labor but that she is showing plenty of signs to let them know that she is close to welcoming her calf. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, there are quite a few things that zookeepers and Animal Adventure Park staff are keeping a close eye on these days.
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If you have been watching the live YouTube feed, you have probably noticed that April’s belly has gotten much bigger and her calf has been moving around quite a bit lately. This is very typical at the end of a giraffe’s pregnancy and suggests that April is just about full-term (a giraffe carries its offspring for 15 months). In the coming days, the giraffe calf will continue to move around and eventually will get into position to be born.
Animal Adventure Park personnel are also closely watching the wax caps on April’s udders. Usually, a mama giraffe will shed these caps before giving birth so that her calf will be able to nurse once it is born. While these caps don’t always fall off (sometimes a baby giraffe will take them off while sucking), Animal Adventure Park owner Jordan Patch let fans know that April’s caps are “thinning.” This is definitely a sign that she’s getting ready for her baby!
Another interesting question that was asked during Monday night’s Q&A had to do with the time of day a giraffe generally gives birth. While you might think that nature just does its thing, Jordan Patch actually said that calves tend to be born “pre-dawn.” So, you know what that means! All of you night owls (or people watching in other parts of the world) may get really lucky one of these early mornings!
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Animal Adventure Park posted their Monday evening update on Facebook just moments ago. The zoo decided to post the vet report, which fans have been asking about. Check it out below!
“April Update – still happy, still healthy, still not in labor. Predicting these things is next to impossible, so I go by physical and behavioral changes that the staff and I observe each day. In theory, that helps us kind of hone in on a window where she could go into labor… unlike a dog, cat, human, horse, cow, goat, etc there simply isn’t enough consistent data to say tomorrow she’ll go into labor. When you are working with a world-wide spectacle you can imagine how aggravating that is. So today not much in the physical change department but behaviorally she is a little off. She didn’t come running over when I got there and took a bit of coaxing to kiss the camera for carrots after my visit.”
Animal Adventure Park also told followers that enrichment items will be added to April’s enclosure on Tuesday morning and encouraged everyone to watch the live feed in the morning around 10 a.m. EST.
Have you been watching April the giraffe? Are you glued to the Animal Adventure Park’s YouTube feed 24/7? Let us know!
[Featured Image by Animal Adventure Park/Instagram]
