Watch live: April the giraffe ‘could be hours away’ from giving birth

ajc.com

Credit: Animal Adventure Park

Credit: Animal Adventure Park

Caretakers at Animal Adventure Park in New York are reporting that viral sensation April the giraffe "could be hours away" from giving birth to her fourth calf.

According to reports posted on the park's Facebook page Wednesday, April has some discharge, which "would suggest the count down to calf has begun!"

Although they have not confirmed active labor, the team and vets are on standby.

On Saturday, keepers observed that April was moody as milk had begun to fill the right udders and back end swelling had continued to "maintain a significant size."

And the week before, vets noted that her stomach had noticeably dropped further.

The little one continued to do “calf giraffe cartwheels,” and they witnessed April napping beside her bundle of joy with her extended back head onto her abdomen.

Millions of people around the world have been tuning into the much-anticipated live birth, which first started making headlines last month after YouTube briefly took the zoo's livestream down after animal activists complained the video violated policies against "nudity and sexual content."

But after the zoo urged commenters to voice their frustrations — and thousands did — YouTube restored the stream within an hour.

The park said it expects the calf, which will be born to April and 5-year-old Oliver, will weigh about 150 pounds and will be nearly six feet tall when it is born.

Continue watching the live cam of April the giraffe below:

Visit aprilthegiraffe.com or Animal Adventure Park's Facebook page for updates.

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