ALBANY, N.Y. — April the Giraffe has once again given birth in front of an enthralled YouTube audience.
The Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York, said April gave birth to a healthy male calf around 12:45 p.m. Saturday. They say more than 300,000 watched live.
Park officials say the newborn giraffe was on its feet by 1:27 p.m., and nursing by 1:51 p.m.
April drew more than 232 million YouTube live views during a seven-week period in 2017 before she gave birth to Tajiri. That came as a surprise for the small zoo 130 miles (209 kilometers) northwest of New York City.
This is April’s fifth calf.
The average gestation period for a giraffe is about 15 months, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. A baby giraffe is usually around 6 feet tall.
It is a dire time for giraffes, whose numbers have plummeted 40% over the past three decades — from more than 150,000 to fewer than 100,000, the foundation says.
