April the giraffe gave birth to her fourth calf over the weekend and the folks over at Animal Adventure Park have switched gears quite a bit since then. Now, instead of keeping an eye on their internet star and waiting for her to go into labor, the zookeepers are making sure that the new calf is healthy and that April is recovering well. All updates so far have indicated that mama and baby are doing extremely well!
Animal Adventure Park’s Monday evening update was super informative and let everyone know that mama and baby are doing well.
“Calf continues to grow stronger! We experienced a 1-1 1/2 lb weight gain over night. He is quite spunky and independent; perhaps he takes after his father. He also has his inquisitive and friendly moments of engaging keepers with the genuine nature of his mother. We are smitten.”
“April has recovered great from the birth and has quite the appetite! She did have a minor misstep this afternoon that lead her to favor her one leg; but that has already improved. It’s hard dancing around a little one! Dr Tim was on site for calf and mom check ups and we have no reason for concern and are happy with progress.”
On Tuesday, zookeeper Allysa got up close and personal with the baby giraffe and posted one of the cutest pictures we’ve seen of him yet! Just as Allysa has a very sweet relationship with April (you can read more about that in this article by the Inquisitr ), it’s clear that she is bonding with the new calf.
A post shared by Allysa Swilley (@allysaswilley) on
Animal Adventure Park employees have gained national attention and have made many fans over the past several weeks. While just about everyone has enjoyed watching the giraffes inside their barn, getting to know the staff at Animal Adventure Park has also been fun. Fans have really taken a liking to Allysa, Corey, and, of course, park owner Jordan Patch!
It’s no secret that Animal Adventure Park has gained quite a bit of publicity following their decision to install a camera outside of April’s stall. Allowing the public to watch the mama giraffe give birth was a super cool idea, but it seems obvious that the zoo would like to focus on their animals and sort of take themselves out of the public eye — directly anyway.
For this reason, Animal Adventure Park has confirmed that they will be shutting the giraffe cam off in the coming days. People all over the world are still tuned in to YouTube, watching April the giraffe interact with her calf and have gotten to see some of the cutest moments of bonding. While we are no longer waiting for the “big moment,” there is still a lot to see and thousands of people are still enjoying the live feed which has become a part of daily life for many of them.
A post shared by Animal Adventure Park (@animaladventurepark) on
That said, the live feed of April the giraffe, her mate Oliver, and their son, who is yet to be named, will undoubtedly leave a void. So, what can you do to keep up with the giraffe family and the happenings around Animal Adventure Park? You will definitely want to follow the park on social media. They will continue to post updates on April’s calf on Facebook and will presumably continue sharing photos on Instagram long after that giraffe cam is taken down.
Have you been watching Animal Adventure Park’s live feed this week? Do you enjoy watching the giraffe baby figure out the world in his first week of life? Will you miss watching April, Oliver, and baby once the cam is taken down? Let us know in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by Animal Adventure Park/AP Images]
