April, the pregnant giraffe in the Animal Adventure Park of Harpursville, New York, is currently the darling of the internet. Move over Kim Kardashian, April is breaking the internet with her live-streamed videos since February 22nd this year.
According to Cnet, April was scheduled to give birth to her calf a week earlier. Still, now there is no sign of it and people all over the world watching the live stream are growing restless. The live stream has been seen by almost 30 million people in 12 hours, as the Park Authority has stated April's condition has been as it was with no active labor so far. In between, the live stream was taken down last week for a while by YouTube owing to a complaint against sexual content or nudity.
April herself also might be feeling the pressure, as another giraffe, Dobbie, from the Denver Zoo, gave birth to a calf on Tuesday despite being on birth control. This is the fourth time that April has been pregnant in her lifespan of 15 years. She has never faced a miscarriage or stillbirth. Reportedly, this will be her first calf with current partner Oliver, who is 5.
According to Phys.org, in videos posted on the Park's official Facebook page, people has been requested not to send in so many "e-mails" asking the whereabouts of April's pregnancy and the due birth of her calf. A GoFundMe page has been set up separately for the giraffes and their much-awaited newborn calf, which has raised more than $23000 out of a targeted $50000. Separate donations of unknown amount have also poured in. The Park authority has confirmed that they will use the money for the feeding and caretaking of the giraffes and their baby.
April also has her own website. Named as "aprilthegiraffe.com", it includes a link for buying apparel from baby clothing to adult-sized hoodies with a giraffe's head imprinted on it. The Park's name, location with a tagline "#April View Crew" also appears on the clothing. The Park authority has also thought of an online naming competition for the yet-to-be-born calf of April.
Experts opine that giraffes can be in labor for an hour as well as a full day. It is also said that the change of April's earlier location, where she gave birth to her three previous calfs, might be a reason for the giraffe's irregular delivery.
