'Today is not the day to stop watching,' park owner says of April the giraffe's live stream
Millions have followed April's pregnancy via a live-stream feed.
— -- The millions of people keeping track online of the progression of April the giraffe’s pregnancy should not wander far from the live stream today, according to the owner of the New York animal park where April lives.
“Today is not the day to stop watching,” Animal Adventure Park owner Jordan Patch said today on “Good Morning America.” “We are there. We are close. All signs are go.”
The Harpursville, New York, animal park first posted a live stream of April in February. Since then, the mother-to-be has become a viral sensation.
Patch said park officials called in a doctor because April had “progressed significantly overnight.”
Fortunately for viewers who have waited for months to see the birth, giraffe deliveries are known for being relatively quick affairs.
“Once we are in full labor it’s a quick process,” Patch said. “It can be 30 to 60 minutes before we have a calf on the ground.”
The delivery will mark the fourth calf for 15-year-old April, according to the park.
Animal Adventure Park describes itself as an “interactive educational animal park" on its website. The venue came under fire after gaining attention with its giraffe live stream, causing the live stream to be temporarily shut down.
Patch attributed the temporary shut down to “some people that fundamentally disagree with what we do here, keeping animals in captivity.”
“So their tools to take down our cam, to punish us or take it off air was to report it to YouTube for having sexually explicit content,” he said. “Well it did go down but only for about 30, 60, maybe 90 minutes, and then it was back up due to popular demand and from there it has gone viral.”
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