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After keep gazillion of people anxiously glued to their computing machine and phone screens on " belly watch " since Feb. 11 , April the pregnant giraffe pitch her calf at Animal Adventure Park ( AAP ) in Harpursville , New York , on April 15 .
The 15 - year - honest-to-god mother welcome her newborn at 9:54 a.m. local meter . This is April ’s fourth calf , the first to be think by her Ilex paraguariensis , 5 - year - onetime Oliver , and the first baby giraffe born at AAP . ( Theannouncement of the calf ’s genderwill be made after its birth by a text alert scheme , according to the car park . )
Video stills of April the giraffe giving birth to her calf on 25 March 2025.
Barely into its first day of life story , April ’s calf is already a YouTube maven , with more than 561,000 YouTube viewing audience check in to coo over the lanky baby at 11:24 a.m. The young giraffe will stick near to April and will be keep asunder from its beginner until it is weaned , which can take about 6 to 10 month , AAP officials explicate in a description for thelive video feedstreaming from April ’s indoor penitentiary . [ determine April the Giraffe with Baby ]
Here ’s how the birth went down this morning :
9:48 a.m.:The head appears.9:53 a.m.:The sister ’s foreland , neck and shoulders are visible.9:54 a.m.:The baby begin to slide from April ’s vulva and lands on the ground , a six - foot free fall ! April begins to houseclean the new arrival.9:56 a.m.:The calfskin rustle its drumhead and begins to look around.10:07 a.m.:Jordan Patch , Animal Adventure Park ( AAP ) owner , ended the AAP Facebook Live transmission , saying : " We ’re gon na permit ma and baby do their affair for a little bit . " He said that the birth buy the farm perfectly , and that the baby was already nibbling at April , reckon to nurse . " As soon as we know the gender , we ’ll let everybody screw , " Patch added .
As of 11:30 ante meridiem , the sura was slowly walk around the enclosing , wonky legs and all , with proud mama April continuing to give him or her a trivial saliva bath .
For weeks , April commanded a captivated internet audience as she ambled around her pen , her protruding paunch showing ripples of activity when the fetus motivate inside . During the calendar week of March 13 , some star sign of impending birth became more pronounced , with " important changes " visible , her caregiver reportedon Facebook .
" Her back ending has become significantly larger and relaxed , motion and pulsing in this area has been note , and discharge has been observed , " they wrote . However , April was not yet get fighting confinement , they explained .
On March 14 , as winter storm Stella pounded the northeastern U.S. , caregivers stayed overnight at the zoo to keep vigil on their rush . April ’s behaviour during the early dayspring hours motivate them to check in on her , but her condition remained unchanged from the prior evening , according toa keeper ’s account .
A distaff giraffe carry her fetus for 15 months , which might seem like a tenacious time when compare to a human mother ’s 9 - month gestation . But other mammals carry their young for even longer . Gestation live for up to 16 monthsin sperm whalesand up to 18 monthsin killer whales , according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) . And African elephant , the great kingdom beast alive today , gestate longer than any other mammal — 22 months , according to theWorld Wildlife Fund . [ Infographic : For How Long Are Animals fraught ? ]
Original clause onLive Science .
