Animal Adventure Park Update: April The Giraffe Has Busy Night, Still No Calf
An Animal Adventure Park update was posted on Thursday morning after a very active, intense night for April the giraffe and the thousands of fans watching her on the live cam. Just after 1 a.m, April was very active, and many thought that she was going to give birth. Viewers watched as the giraffe kept her tail lifted for an extended amount of time. She was also showcasing quite a bit of movement, and it did appear as though her calf was extremely active, perhaps changing its position inside its mama.
Viewers were convinced that the calf was well on his or her way!
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Animal Adventure Park posted the following update on Facebook about last night’s happenings. The zoo confirmed that April was showcasing some “interesting behavior” but added that she has since settled down and seems to be back to taking things slow.
“What a long evening! Many of you were up with us around 1:30 a.m. EST and the following hours, and witnessed some very interesting behavior that had us on edge. Though, this morning, all has seemed to settle. We will continue to watch and monitor throughout the day.”
The wee hours of Thursday morning fell in line with April’s other pre-labor changes. Zookeepers have noticed a good amount of discharge coming from the pregnant giraffe and a lot of movement as the baby stars re-positioning itself for birth. All of these things are normal and part of the process.
Animal Adventure Park decided to set up a video camera to record April the giraffe as she prepares to welcome her fourth calf into the world. This is the first giraffe calf for the zoo, and they wanted to share this experience with the world. It’s unknown if they knew just how popular their live feed would be, but millions of people have checked in on April over the past few weeks!
The staff at Animal Adventure Park has been very open to answering questions and even took some time today to do a live Facebook Q&A. Fans were able to ask questions about giraffes and about April and about what will happen when she does go into labor.
April has shows some surefire signs that she’s ready to give birth, and zoo officials have said that she’s moving in the “right direction.” She is healthy and in great condition, slowly preparing for labor. Although the vets do not know April’s exact due date, Animal Adventure Park personnel believe that she’s “close.” She has been pregnant for 15 months (take a few days), so she really could give birth at any moment!
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As previously reported by the Inquisitr, giraffes give birth while standing up. Since these animals only sleep for a short amount of time per day (usually less than two hours), April has been doing a lot of walking around. This has really kept people interested in the live feed because she could literally go into labor at any moment!
You can check out Animal Adventure Park’s live giraffe cam below. You will see April in the main stall and her mate, Oliver, in the stall next door.
Animal Adventure Park is super excited to be welcoming April’s calf as is the rest of the watching world! Have you been tuning into the live feed? Are you just as addicted as the thousands of other people who simply can’t get away from their computers?! Let us know in the comments section below!
[Featured Image by Animal Adventure Park/Instagram]
