Yes, it is a live feed. If you go to www.aprilthegiraffe.com it will take you to the live feed.

www.aprilthegiraffe.com

morz8: I'm the same way! I get way too excited when I see her tail raise. I always think she is about to have that baby. I'm hoping I can convince my boyfriend to go see her over the summer sometime.

Maybe they need to let her go outside and walk. I don't know how long I've been waiting, but it seems like over a month. Poor April. You know she is ready to get this done.

Yes, I've been keeping an eye on her for weeks! Sometimes I feel as if they have been misleading us to keep us watching. Am I the only who believes the staff would know when she's close to labor?

adellabedella_usa: They have opened the barn door today and yesterday and she chose not to go outside.

moonie_57 (8 NC): I feel the same way. I would think they would be able to tell.

They are now making so much money off of her. They have apparel, a gofundme, and they do live chats and people are always donating money through that. They have also set up a text alert system and you pay a fee and they will send you text updates.

I wonder if interest was dropping so they decided to announce she was about to give birth to increase interest again.

Dont get me wrong, I'm all for the zoo making money!

I also like that they are donating some of the money donated to giraffe conservation

I haven't been watching, because every time I look she's either eating or staring at the wall. I do watch the headlines to see if anything has happened.

But my goodness, the hype! "IT'S COMING!! SOON!! IT'S IMMINENT!! ANY MINUTE NOW! For weeks. I understand that it's a natural process, but she's had three other pregnancies. Can't they get any closer?

I love when they give her treats in front of the camera. That tongue!

"Maybe they need to let her go outside and walk."

Um.... NO. The Animal Adventure Park is in Harpursville, NY (about 15 minutes north of Binghamton). They have snow on the ground, although the keepers worked outside a couple of days ago to make their outside area safe for them. The barn doors were opened yesterday and today, but April chose not to go outside.

Some facts:

April is 15 years old, and this is her fourth calf. Oliver (baby daddy) is five years old and this is his first offspring. Female giraffes "come into heat" every 17 days. They are pregnant for 15 months. The estimate of April's due date was calculated from the first time that mating behavior was observed. But, just like humans, giraffes don't always get pregnant every time they mate. So, from the first estimated date they had to add 17 days, then add again because she apparently didn't get pregnant the second time, either, etc. Giraffes give birth standing up. The calf comes out front hooves first, followed by the head, then the rest of the body, and the back legs last. The fall to the ground severs the umbilical cord. The calf should be up and walking around (weakly at first) within about 30 minutes, then by the end of the next 30 minutes it should be nursing. The weaning process takes anywhere from 6 to 15 months, and once the baby is fully weaned it will be sent to a different zoo (they will NOT say where it goes) to enter that zoo's breeding program. They can't keep the baby with April and Oliver because they don't want inbreeding to occur. We all know that elephants are in danger because of dwindling numbers, but there are many more elephants in the world than there are giraffes. The breeding programs that the zoos have is for conservation of the species.

Animal Adventure Park is a for-profit business. They have over 200 animals, most of which are rescue animals, or animals that they have taken in because other people/zoos could not keep them. Much of the money they have raised from donations and from the sale of April the Giraffe products is being donated to animal conservation projects.

No, they do not know the gender of the calf. The portable ultrasound machines that are available in their area are not strong enough to get an image that would show the gender. They will know the gender almost immediately after the birth.

The Animal Adventure Park has set up a text alert system. Subscribers will get a text to let them know when labor has begun (they don't consider it to be labor until the hooves are showing); another text when the birth is complete, another text with the gender, etc., etc. A text subscription is $5 and please, everyone, don't complain about the cost because it cost the AAP to set it up and to maintain it. And, money from the subscriptions is being donated to conservation efforts.

If you've been with me to this point, please click on this link to read about the owner of Animal Adventure Park, Jordan Patch. Have a hanky ready.

By the way, her eating has diminished greatly now that she is so close to delivery. The "staring at the wall" is a sign that she is having a contraction. If you pay close attention, you will see that her legs get stiff, and you can see her abdominal wall contract.

Giraffes' tongues are 15 to 18 inches long because they need their long necks and the length of their tongues to eat the leaves off acacia trees. Their tongues are a bluish purple color to protect the tongue from the sun because their tongues are out of their mouths so much. :-)

We fed the giraffes at the London Zoo back in November. It was part of a special "meet the animals" package that my husband bought for my birthday. It was amazing, and you really don't realize how TALL they are until you're standing right next to one!

I've seen April poop too. LMAO And I've been saying for weeks that she's not pregnant. lol

She is most definitely pregnant! Just as you can sometimes see a human baby kicking while in utero, you can see April's calf kicking, only magnified times a bunch compared to a human baby!

A couple of facts I forgot to put in my original post...

The calf at birth will be about 6' tall and will weigh approximately 150 pounds! Giraffes instinctively hide their labor because in the wild, they are subject to predators who will attack during this vulnerable time. I cannot recall April's exact height, but I think she's at least 14' tall. Oliver is shorter, but he is young and will continue to grow and eventually will be taller than April.

Animal Adventure Park has a Facebook page and they give a morning and an evening update.

(I was being facetious.)

Another interesting fact..giraffes can only lower their heads to drink for 30 seconds at a time or they will pass out.

Right now she keeps putting her head back there and checking things out...so maybe better watch now.

My sister is obsessed with April! I've watched here and there but I lose interest quickly.

"... giraffes can only lower their heads to drink for 30 seconds at a time or they will pass out."

I don't think that's correct. First, giraffes only drink every 2 to 3 days, as they get moisture from the food they eat. Second, they have huge hearts (about 2 feet long, which weigh up to 26 pounds) and a specially developed vascular system that prevents them from getting dizzy when they stand upright after having been bent down. Because they are so tall, they have to "splay out" their front legs in order to get their heads low enough to reach the water. It's awkward and takes a bit of time, which is why they usually have at least one giraffe standing guard.

I got my info from Wild Earth and Nat Geo Wild about lowering their heads for only 30 seconds.

I watched a live feed several years ago of a shire mare in England that was due to foal. I have seen a lot of foals born, when I raised horses, but I still got hooked on the live feed. Sadly, I was watching as she gave birth and the foal was still born.

I have been checking in about 3 times per day. I think I started in mid February.

"I got my info from Wild Earth and Nat Geo Wild about lowering their heads for only 30 seconds."

Two television shows. Can you cite which episodes?

I have April's live feed in a window in the lower right corner of my monitor, and I have another window open that I'm using for genealogy research and researching info on whether or not a giraffe can bend over for longer than 30 seconds. Nowhere have I found any statements to support that. In fact, everything I have seen tonight supports my statement that giraffes have "a specially developed vascular system that prevents them from getting dizzy when they stand upright after having been bent down."

Do a Google search, and if you find a reputable site that supports your statement, please post it. I can and will admit when/if I am wrong, but everything I've seen says that I am not wrong.

This photo is from the Wikipedia.org entry for giraffes. (April and Oliver are Reticulated giraffes.)

After hours and hours of episodes..no I would not be able to name the episode. I do know Wild Earth Live Safari talks about it every time they show a giraffe drinking. I only posted what I heard on these two shows..I don't really care one way or another lol.

I'm glad I didn't start watching a month ago when the camera first went up. If I would have I would have wasted a lot more time. I constantly check throughout the day to see if anything has changed. I am also glad that I have unlimited data, if not I would have definitely gone over my limit.

I watched the youtube video of the baby giraffe born at the Dallas zoo in April 2015. It was a little scary to watch, but they said that was normal.

A few years ago, I watched a web cam of a shire mare in England, about to give birth. when she finally had the foal, it was stillborn. That was very sad. Of course, her handlers were there and immediately went to work to try and save the foal, but it was not to be. Of course, they turned off the web cam as soon as it became obvious that there was trouble. I have seen a lot of foals born, when I raised horses, but I still got hooked on watching the mare web cam.

Greetings all,

Come on, folks ...

... you didn't really expect April to deliver ...

... until aaaaApril, did you?

o j

Hey OJ, it is April!