April The Giraffe’s Baby Gender Reveal By Animal Adventure Park Sparks Controversy Among Faithful Viewers

April the giraffe’s baby Gender Reveal by Animal Adventure Park has sparked controversy among faithful viewers. Some are squabbling over the latest update that park owner, Jordan Patch, posted on Facebook about announcing the baby giraffe’s gender.

While April continues her usual routine of pacing, eating, and other behaviors as seen for the last week on Animal Adventure Park’s live cam, fans are anxious to get any piece of information they can related to the new giraffe’s arrival.

The park shared in an earlier Facebook post that the ultrasound doesn’t show the sex of the unborn calf due to the animal’s position in the womb. On Monday, April 3, Patch wrote that people could find out what gender April’s baby giraffe is if they subscribe for the Labor & Baby Announcements text alert for $4.99. The gender reveal will be announced by the park on the text alert before it hits the media in a press release, Patch explained.

Several on Facebook were quick to react to the post. Many are blasting Animal Adventure Park for charging dedicated viewers who’ve tuned into the live cam every day for over a month to watch April the giraffe give birth. The text alert fee of $4.99 goes to a good cause — the Giraffe Conservation Foundation Fund — but some aren’t happy about the charge.

Just a random sampling of the grievances posted on the park’s Facebook page Monday morning had one user upset that the park was “limiting only those that subscribe” to their text alert to learn the giraffe baby’s gender. Perhaps a sign indicating the calf’s sex on the live cam would be a good idea, the person suggested.

Another was miffed that all of the people who liked Animal Adventure Park’s Facebook page, read their website, and donated money weren’t included in the Gender Reveal if they didn’t sign up for text alerts.

A separate follower was supportive of endangered animal efforts, but wrote that “this has gone far beyond that” and was turned off by the whole thing now.

More are jumping to Animal Adventure Park’s defense over the Gender Reveal decision, and apologizing for those who are complaining.

One individual was disgusted at the outcry, writing that “the sense of entitlement on this thread is ridiculous- the park doesn’t owe you anything!” Since the park was using their resources to support their conservation mission, the follower added that people should back off on lashing out at the park.

Someone on Animal Adventure Park’s side continued that “it’s sad about the complaints on charging for text alerts” and to remember that setting up a website to handle the type of traffic the site gets on a daily basis “isn’t free.”

There was an alternative, according to one follower; that person wrote that if people “can’t pay the $4.99 for the alerts, or are just too stingy, ask a friend to keep you updated.”

Animal Adventure Park responded to the controversy by telling followers that with the technological advances, they can alert people to the baby giraffe’s gender fast than the media. The plan all along was for the Gender Reveal to be disclosed through the press, but the text alert system was a new development, and they want to take advantage of it by making subscribers the first to learn the sex of the calf.

The park also reasoned that while standing next to April holding a sign letting viewers know what the gender is of her baby giraffe, they didn’t want to disturb her process of bonding with the calf. It was also justified that a lot of people may not be watching the giraffe’s birth to find out the sex of the calf, which would give another reason to find fault with the park’s decision to announce the gender via text alert.

Animal Adventure Park concluded the response by saying that everything has been free for loyal viewers in regards to the live cam and Facebook updates. They continue that “additional options have been participated in by choice” and are intended to help giraffe conservation efforts as well as caring for the park’s giraffes.

The park asks that faithful viewers take into account what investing in the text alert system means. Patch urged people to “think of this process on a larger scale” since a worldwide audience can be powerful in changing the view of “conservation needs and support them.”

How do you feel about Animal Adventure Park making the Gender Reveal on the text alert system? Do you think everyone should learn at the same time what April the giraffe’s baby gender is?

[Featured Image by Pablo Basquez Dominguez/Getty Images]