The World Watches As April The Giraffe Gives Birth
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HARPURSVILLE, N.Y. (CBSMiami) -- April the giraffe gave birth and the world was watching.
The 15-year-old delivered her fourth calf Saturday morning, fittingly in the month of April, inside a small grassy pen at Animal Adventure Park. Labor began around 7:30 a.m. EST and the baby boy was on the ground just before 10 a.m.
Resting high above her roughly 14-foot stature was a single camera that allowed the world to peer into April's day-to-day life. Hundreds of thousands watched the park's live YouTube channel in anticipation as April labored for months. Park staff gave updates each morning, noting her bulging belly, eating habits and unusual behavior, all looking for signs to predict a due date.
Next to April's enclosure, park staff kept the father, Oliver, close by. Fans waited along with the 5-year-old, pacing around his little room, just as anxious and helpless as everyone else.
When the miracle of birth finally happened, more than a million were tuned in.
Within hours, the newborn was standing next to mom at a height of about 6 feet.
Watch the delivery video below!
