April is giving birth at last
April 15, 2017 6:52 AM   Subscribe

 
It is 9:59 am, and the baby is out. It came out about 5 minutes ago and is now lying on the ground looking a little dazed; I've seen it try to get up a couple times though.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:59 AM on April 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


oh my God it's so precious and beautiful and ARGH SHE'S PULLING OFF THE CAUL AND EATING IT
posted by Countess Elena at 7:02 AM on April 15, 2017 [17 favorites]


I am so excited that I clicked this link juuuust before the baby was born. The ozzy family huddled around the phone to watch it. Which still sounds like The Future.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:06 AM on April 15, 2017 [6 favorites]


I've always suspected that uncleozzy was secretly a giraffe.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:09 AM on April 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


Stand up, little one, stand up!
posted by waitingtoderail at 7:11 AM on April 15, 2017


Gotta have respect for anyone whose first act on earth is to fall 6 feet.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:14 AM on April 15, 2017 [10 favorites]


oh jeez she just tried to get up and face planted.
posted by dismas at 7:20 AM on April 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


faceplant after faceplant. come on, little giraffe!
posted by phooky at 7:20 AM on April 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


I was all set for triumphant cheering and then, welp
posted by dismas at 7:21 AM on April 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


baby giraffe trying to stand up = me trying to dance after too many mojitos
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:24 AM on April 15, 2017 [5 favorites]


Meanwhile, the mother is pulling... long, stringy matter out of her rear. Is that the remains of the placenta?
posted by phooky at 7:26 AM on April 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


I assumed she was drinking her own pee (A++ time to tune in, would watch again) but I am willing to be told it's a placenta thing.
posted by terretu at 7:29 AM on April 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Is that the male in the next pen?
posted by COD at 7:30 AM on April 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


So I'm assuming they switched in a ringer pregnant giraffe for this part?

april truthers won't be fooled
posted by Naberius at 7:31 AM on April 15, 2017 [6 favorites]


The baby giraffe is standing with a "Oh fuck, what now?" expression
posted by gsh at 7:31 AM on April 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Gotta say that the advertising changing from Toys R Us to Babies R Us once the baby showed up was pretty smart as far as internet advertising goes.

Also, I missed the actual birth by 10 minutes because I was asleep.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 7:32 AM on April 15, 2017 [5 favorites]


The Jurassic Park theme is extremely playing in my head as I watch this
posted by dismas at 7:33 AM on April 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Dude in the next pen is Oliver, the dad. I assume they put him there so April wouldn't be lonely (giraffes being social creatures)

I think the stringy bits are either bits of birth sac or the umbilical cord. Placenta's still in there.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:33 AM on April 15, 2017


I love you little wobbleraffe
posted by dismas at 7:33 AM on April 15, 2017 [16 favorites]


I'm guessing "what now" involves trying to figure out where the breasts are on a giraffe.
posted by phooky at 7:34 AM on April 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


Meanwhile, the mother is pulling... long, stringy matter out of her rear. Is that the remains of the placenta?

Amniotic sac, I believe.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:34 AM on April 15, 2017 [3 favorites]


There are over 1 million people watching that stream.
posted by COD at 7:36 AM on April 15, 2017


Someone get the little guy a mojito!
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:37 AM on April 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


She is doing such an excellent job, what a good giraffe momma!
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 7:37 AM on April 15, 2017 [3 favorites]


Oliver doing excellent "father pacing up and down outside the Labour ward" work.
posted by billiebee at 7:38 AM on April 15, 2017 [5 favorites]


Dad is way to panic attacky to be present for this. He needs to be given a back issue of McCall's and a cup of vending machine mocha blend and escorted to the waiting room.
posted by Gordion Knott at 7:43 AM on April 15, 2017 [5 favorites]


Time for the traditional celebratory giraffe song.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:48 AM on April 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


holy shit! ytmnd is still around!
posted by Naberius at 7:53 AM on April 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


Every time I watch an ungulate give birth, I'm so glad my children will probably not have hooves.
posted by ChuraChura at 8:16 AM on April 15, 2017 [18 favorites]


April 15 is my birthday too! It's over here in Australia, it being 1:20 am on the 16th. But what a wonderful gift to cap off what's been a pretty good day! Thank you so much and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!
posted by adept256 at 8:22 AM on April 15, 2017 [4 favorites]


The archived video is here - baby drops around 2h28m.

So sweet!
posted by ianhattwick at 8:44 AM on April 15, 2017


Good video of the little one trying to walk.
posted by rhizome at 11:04 AM on April 15, 2017 [4 favorites]


I thought that was amazing to watch, with 600 thousand of my closest friends. Since he's a boy, they should consider Truman as a name.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:33 AM on April 15, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yaypril!
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 12:00 PM on April 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


So I was just watching the live feed of mama and baby thinking how cute little baby giraffe with giant mama giraffe was and then a full sized adult man walked into the pen and then OMG tiny little baby giraffe is taller than full grown man!
Talk about needing something in the pen to truly grasp the scale of these creatures (and yes, I've been around giraffes in real life and know how big they are, but you forget you know)
posted by newpotato at 3:01 PM on April 15, 2017 [4 favorites]


Made the mistake of reading this thread while eating.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 3:18 PM on April 15, 2017


Every time I watch an ungulate give birth, I'm so glad my children will probably not have hooves.

Entire novels could fit within that "probably."
posted by Dip Flash at 7:21 PM on April 15, 2017 [5 favorites]


This has been a weird day to be a person named April.
posted by apricot at 9:12 PM on April 15, 2017 [4 favorites]


Either this is the first giraffe to ever give birth, or all those other giraffe mothers are gonna be . . . well, I don't know, but I bet they'll be something.
posted by yhbc at 9:27 PM on April 15, 2017


I haven't been on here much as I was actually following April. I got the text alerts and stressed whether to go places or do things depending on how her south end looked, how much she was pacing, waxy caps on or off etc. It was blind luck I was even awake. I'd turned sound down on my phone to avoid disturbing Mr. Roquette.
Dozed off before turning it back on. Woke up to see tiny hooves. Animal Adventure Park actually did several Facebook Live things. Hooved animals have 'slippers' which look like a plastic or gelatinous coating on the hooves. In the Facebook Live feeds of the birth you can see the 'slippers'. These protect the mother from damage as she gives birth. She took slightly longer than usual. At first you could only see one hoof. The stringy stuff you saw her eating was the caul. Some giraffes will eat the caul and the placenta, some won't. What you saw her drinking was the amniotic fluid and placenta blood.
The veterinarian shared pictures of her rear end and her udder.
There have been three Live giraffe births online prior to April.
Autumn giving birth to Kiko, Greenville Zoo, Katie giving birth to Kipenzi, Dallas Zoo, This was on Animal Planet. Autumn giving birth to Roho, Greenville Zoo. That was interrupted because they realized there was a problem. That poor giraffe had a still-birth. Again Autumn giving birth to Tatu, Greenville Zoo. I have watched all of these, but only was awake for a birth twice. Katie and Kipenzi, and April and this little male calf.
There were problems with trolls on YouTube and people setting up fake feeds and fake GoFunfmdMe accounts. Animal Adventure Park had to copyright everything.
I got thousands of screenshots, which can't be shared for now.
Th people who run this park take very good care of their giraffes and other animals.
I know a good bit about giraffe and I learned a lot of new things.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 4:42 PM on April 16, 2017 [1 favorite]


The Columbus Zoo posted a facebook video of Lance the giraffe donating plasma today! It is amazing what a giraffe will let you do for a steady supply of giraffe treats.
posted by ChuraChura at 1:00 PM on April 18, 2017 [1 favorite]


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