Animal Adventure Park Giraffe Update: Allysa Picks Name Of April’s Calf, YouTube Live Stream Stats Revealed


Since February, we have been keeping a close eye on April, a pregnant giraffe at the Animal Adventure Park in New York. Fans of April kept tabs on her through reading daily Animal Adventure Park giraffe update posts, as well as watching the live-streaming giraffe cam. Millions of viewers watched the YouTube live stream, waiting for signs of impending labor.

During this time, viewers were given an opportunity, from a bird’s eye view, to witness the care of April the giraffe and her mate Oliver. Viewers witnessed feedings, cleanings, rest times, and vet visits. Those watching the giraffe cam on YouTube were astonished, and touched, by the level of love and trust April the giraffe has for her zoologist and friend Allysa. This level of trust is also shared by April’s calf, with Allysa being one of the few who can get close to him.

Since the calf was born on April 15, the Animal Adventure Park has been holding a contest to name the calf. It appears that voters everywhere appreciate the love April has for Allysa, and vice versa. Bright and early this morning, Animal Adventure released an update stating that the winning name was one of Allysa’s choosing.

In a live stream posted to the Animal Adventure Park‘s Facebook page, Allysa thanked everyone who voted and revealed her chosen name, Tajiri.

The Animal Adventure Park’s chosen name for April’s calf is Swahili in origin. The name fits the baby giraffe in many ways. April, Oliver, and the new calf are reticulated giraffes, which are also referred to as the Somali giraffe. The species lives in Somalia, Ethiopia, Northern Kenya, and is native to the Horn of Africa. It is only fitting that April the giraffe’s calf should receive a native name, especially one that means “Hope.”

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“Tajiri the baby Giraffe. Tajiri is Swahili for HOPE. We will call him ‘Taj'”

The Animal Adventure Park made a point to educate viewers around the world as they were watching the giraffe cam. April’s pregnancy helped to bring a voice to what was once a silent extinction. The YouTube live stream has brought million of people together as they watched and waited. April the giraffe has brought hope to millions, figuratively and now literally.

When the Animal Adventure Park began their YouTube live stream, on February 10, they were only expecting a few viewers from the local area. It wasn’t long before April the giraffe’s cam went viral, creating a social media sensation. During its short time online, the live stream broke several records.

The YouTube official blog reported that the Animal Adventure Park’s live stream of April the giraffe “became the second most live viewed channel in the history of YouTube,” despite its short time online. The giraffe cam brought together more than 232 million viewers, who watched for a collective 7.6 billion minutes.

According to the statistics logged by YouTube, the Animal Adventure Park’s live stream rivaled daily television programming in many homes. More than 30 minutes were viewed “across an average of 3.5 million views per day.”

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The day April the giraffe gave birth to her calf, the channel views surged to more than 14 million people viewing live. Over 1.2 million people were simultaneously viewing the YouTube live stream on the day April finally gave birth, which ranked as “one of the top five most-watched moments for a live event.”

The Animal Adventure Park was the fifth fastest channel to surpass 200 million views, right behind celebrities such as Zayn and Lady Gaga. Since fans were also connecting with the Animal Adventure Park through their nightly live chat sessions, the channel “received over 4,400 Super Chat messages.” ranking them as the second highest, in the history of YouTube, for revenue intake.

Five days after April gave birth to her giraffe calf, the Animal Adventure Park stopped the YouTube live stream. Millions of viewers around the world were heartbroken and distraught when the stream went dark. The overwhelming viewer response led to a reinstatement of the giraffe cam, once per week.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the giraffe cam will go live on YouTube every Tuesday from 4-8PM Eastern Standard Time. The Animal Adventure Park tells us that “this schedule will continue until noted differently.” You can find the link to Tuesday’s live stream at www.aprilthegiraffe.com.

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In addition to bringing back the giraffe cam on YouTube, “a permanent yard cam will go up this season which will also reconnect you with your favorite giraffe family.”

[Featured Image by Animal Adventure Park/Instagram]

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