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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 April 15, 2017.

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 .

A photograph of three baby western Santa Cruz Galápagos tortoises recently hatched at Philadelphia Zoo.

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 .

Giraffe with warty growths from its chin down towards its torso.

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 .

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April the giraffe

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