April The Giraffe Update: Latest Belly Growth On Live Cam Is ‘Mind Blowing’

By Thursday, April the giraffe was still pregnant. The animal’s pregnancy was documented by Animal Adventure Park in upstate New York, where she is housed, since February. Even though her pregnancy progressed, she did not start active labor on the YouTube live stream cam.

The zoo took to their official Facebook page, like they have since they started to stream April’s pregnancy on YouTube, to update their 815,000 followers about her condition. “April was notably slower moving this morning at breakfast,” they wrote. “Wax caps are still present and her back end swell (as you can see) continues to be significant. Belly growth from last week to this week is still mind blowing — she has to fit a 6-foot, 150 pound calf somewhere!”

READ: April's 'Back End Is Huge, Tail Is Up'

For those who don’t know, a wax cap seals colostrum, a type of milk, in the udder to make sure there will be enough for the calf to eat when it nurses. “Wax caps are what develops on the teats of the udder to keep colostrum in the udder, to ensure that it is their [sic] for baby's first nursing,” the zoo wrote March 13. “Caps are shed just prior or during delivery, or can be removed by the suckle of the baby.”

Aside from April’s pregnancy, Animal Adventure Park had some more exciting news: They partnered with Toys ‘R Us to bring awareness to the sustainable future of giraffes. Thanks to Toys ‘R Us’ partnership, the zoo donated $25,000 to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF).

“GCF is the only non-governmental organization in the world that concentrates only on the conservation and management of giraffe, in the wild, in Africa – we are thrilled to be able to support such a worthy cause!” the zoo wrote.

Within minutes, the post garnered more than 10,000 reactions and hundreds of shares and comments. The live stream had more than 115,000 viewers.

READ: The Latest About Animal Giving Birth On Live Stream

April’s status update was a letdown for some, especially since it seemed like she might have been close to giving birth the night before. “April continues to be herself - though a bit moody end of day but the vet reported a happy girl earlier this afternoon. As you can see from the cam, her back end is huge, tail is up, aaaannnddd we wait!” the zoo said.

So when will April begin active labor? Your guess is as good as anyone else.

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