Giraffe Looks On
April, the pregnant giraffe, is slated to give birth any day. Reuters

As thousands eagerly await for April the giraffe to give birth, the Animal Adventure Park, where April lives, gave an update on her condition. April was in labor for more than a week when the upstate New York zoo released a statement Wednesday.

Animal Adventure Park took to Facebook to share the latest news. “The world waits on edge ... and April smirks with a mouthful of cud. Not much physical change however, there is significant movement once again in the belly. Watch closely for strong kicks from within!” the New York zoo wrote. “A cold front is moving in so, perhaps that will shake things up.” Animal Adventure Park added: “Keeper and vet reports document increased tail raising and holding, periods of increased movement/pace.”

By Thursday, the post was liked more than 18,000 times. It garnered hundreds of shares and comments from viewers who are excited to see April give birth.

Millions of people followed April’s labor. The live feed, which started Friday, has nearly 100,000 viewers at a time.

The calf doesn’t have a name—yet. There will be a contest to determine its name. When the calf is born, it will likely weight 150 pounds and be 6 feet tall.

The baby will not remain with the mother for long, though. “Upon naturally weaning, the calf will move on to another facility to start a breeding program there,” Animal Adventure Park wrote on its YouTube page Friday. “We cannot retain offspring, as it would lead to incestuous mating and undermine the genetics of the program and species.”

As for April, she doesn’t like all the attention. “Hello, humans of the Internet. I, April the pregnant giraffe, understand that you are interested in the impending birth of my calf,” she “said” in a statement to Today.com Tuesday. “It is a joyous occasion to be sure, and I'm happy to share my joy with the hundreds of thousands of people watching my live stream on YouTube. But newsflash: Staring at me and demanding ‘Where’s that baby already??’ is NOT helping.”

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