April 2 (UPI) — With March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb, as the proverb goes, maybe April the giraffe will give birth on the month that bears her name.
The giraffe has become an Internet sensation since February when Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, N.Y., launched a live stream on YouTube to let the world watch her give birth.
On Saturday morning, the live feed went offline briefly because of an Internet outage, leading to rumors that the pregnancy was an April Fools’ Day joke. One website had an April Fools’ Day story that declared zoo officials admitted April was a male giraffe named Greg.
Fake news.
“Joke is on us!,” park owner Jordan Patch posted on Facebook. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for an April Fools baby!”
Later that day, the Facebook post read: “Our big girl is comfortable, confident, and continues to keep her composure — better than the rest of us!”
On Sunday morning, some 150,000 people watched the live feed when she stared at her stablemate. The morning post was: “This morning, keepers report increased discharge, continued lack of interest in food, full udders. April also continues to be a bit out of character. We continue to watch and wait.”
Park staff debuted a text alert system Sunday so people won’t have to be glued to their computers awaiting major developments.
Park staff said the pregnant giraffe is between 15 and 16 months pregnant, which is around the average gestation period of 453 to 464 days.
April could deliver in an hour or less once in full labor.
“The neat thing about giraffe labor is that they instinctively hide the labor signs because in the wild, if they were making it very clear they were in labor, every hyena and lion would sit tight and wait for mom to become vulnerable,” park owner Jordan Patch said Friday on ABC’s Good Morning America.
This will be April’s fourth calf, according to Animal Adventure Park, which is 185 miles northwest of New York City.
Pregnant giraffes are calls cows.
