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Zoo Gives Update on Live Stream Giraffe, Unveils ‘April' Emojis as Fan Base Grows

Tens of millions of people across the globe have tuned into the live stream in anticipation of the birth of April's fourth calf

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What to Know

  • Tens of millions of people worldwide have been watching the stream in anticipation of the birth of "April" the giraffe's fourth calf
  • Her story was vaulted into global headlines after activists complaining of "nudity" got the live stream yanked from YouTube last week
  • The live stream was back online about an hour and a half after the brouhaha started

STATUS CHECK: April the Giraffe Getting Restless as Birth Nears

Everyone's favorite giraffe is doing just fine as she awaits the birth of her fourth calf at an upstate New York zoo, though the zoo teased the millions who have been watching April's live stream in its latest Facebook update.

"Babies babies everywhere!" the Animal Adventure Park posted Wednesday morning. "Just not yet in the giraffe barn."

The Harpursville zoo, which unveiled April-inspired emojis and t-shirts as the fan base for the 15-year-old long-necked beauty continues to swell, said twin Barbados lambs and a Patagonian Cavy were born early Wednesday.

Getty Images
Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images
Peekaboo. April pops her head over the pen to say hello.
April, 15, is seen on the right with her much younger lover, Oliver, 5, in the left pen. Have they had a fight?
"Hello, April? It's me, Oliver. Why the long face?"
"Go away, Oliver. You're stretching my patience." It's not his fault, he just doesn't understand what it's like to carry a 200-pound baby.
Getty Images
The long-necked beauty is seen in her pen on Friday. April changed some of her behaviors overnight Thursday, her keepers said.
She was choosing new spots to stand and sleep and going off her usual naptime routine, the Animal Adventure Park said in a Facebook post Friday morning.
Erica Davies
April was more interested in chatting with our reporter than speaking to Oliver. The pair were introduced when he was just a calf.
April's pregnant belly. On Friday her keepers said they could feel the baby moving.
Getty Images
Let's hope April's baby comes soon. The zoo said she appeared “a little more on edge” and was “not being as lovely as usual." Perhaps Oliver shouldn't take her stand-offish behavior personally.

Over the last week, April has captivated tens of millions of people across the world who have been checking in on her via the live stream. Some 78,000 people were tuned in to the stream by 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Watch it above.

April's pregnancy was catapulted into global headlines last week after YouTube briefly yanked the zoo's live stream following complaints by animal activists that it violated the site's policies concerning "nudity and sexual content." Thousands upon thousands of commenters voiced their frustration on Facebook and YouTube, and the stream was restored within an hour or so. 

We visited April the giraffe at Animal Adventure Park to see how she and her keepers were getting on ahead of the birth of her new calf.

The spotted beauty was up early Wednesday, slinking about her hay-laden home and nuzzling her next-door companion. Over the weekend, she treated viewers with a direct gaze into the camera, wiggling her ears as she chewed her breakfast. Once she goes into active labor, zoo officials say the keepers will go in to help her.

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Giraffe pregnancies last for 15 months. Labor lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The calf will be about 150 pounds and 6 feet tall at birth and up and walking in about an hour.

The zoo said it will hold an online competition to name the baby giraffe once it's born.

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FacebookBarbadosBoys will be boyseducational toolharpursville
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