A giraffe at The Animal Adventure Park in New York state is preparing to give birth, and the park has aimed a live camera in her enclosure. That’s all I know at the moment, so I’m slapping this post together for the benefit of anyone who wants to watch.
Aw! Mama’s just hanging out right now. Looks like she’s got a buddy on the other side of that wall.
Yes, there’s another giraffe on the other side. I saw it earlier. Good luck, mama giraffe!
Is that dad? Giraffe midwife? Lamaze coach?
Yep, it is the dad. The calf will be his 1st baby and the mother’s 4th.
Ah, I just saw it in the video still (which appears to be from earlier in the day). Glad mama has some company while she waits.
I watched a giraffe live birth on Animal Planet and they mentioned that in the wild other giraffes in the herd would be around and comfort the mother so zoos like to have another giraffe nearby when a mother is calving. I’m glad they think of that kind of social aspect when handling animal care.
I imagine it’s also a measure of protection. Fluids and uh, stuff, probably at track predators. Having your sisters at your back with a newborn is important.
Anybody else hold their breath when she lifts/swings her tail?
Poor lady, showing her whoo–haw to a world wide audience while undergoing a painful experience. Almost get sympathetic pangs when she scrounges her shoulders.
When she stands up sometimes you can see baby moving in her belly.
Some info from the YouTube ‘about’ section: The mom’s name is April, she is 15 years old, and this is her 4th calf. Also she has been pregnant for 15 months (!). The other giraffe is 5-year old Oliver, the father, and this his first calf.
There is a lot more info back at YouTube, too much to copy it all here.
So she’s got plenty of experience with this. Wishing her all the best!
When she walks around and then obviously stops with a contraction, I can really identify with how uncomfortable she must be! Good luck, April. I know you calf will be beautiful when it finally arrives!
This live cam has apparently been pulled because people have been complaining about its explicitness, and something about animal nudity.
It’s still up in other places, and I’m still watching 🙂 Try this one:
Oh my goodness, April has been in labour for over 24 hours… all I say is, she is much stronger than me. Godspeed Dear April, oooo
Yeah, they take the stream offline once in a while for maintenance. Just look on Animal Adventure Park’s channel for the latest stream.