Animal Adventure Park’s April The Giraffe Is Pregnant Again

It hasn’t been that much more than a year since a 16-year-old reticulated giraffe named April gave birth to a calf named Tajiri after months of regular Facebook updates and consistent video coverage via the 24-hour giraffe cam of Harpursville, New York’s Animal Adventure Park. Now it appears that April the giraffe is pregnant once again, with what would be her fifth calf.

News of April the giraffe’s pregnancy was announced Wednesday morning via Instagram by Animal Adventure Park zoologist and giraffe keeper Allysa Swilley, who posted an image with the text “Keep Calm and Let’s Do Round 2” with the following caption.

“I’m having another baby! #herewego”

Swilley’s post was corroborated by Today, which was one of the first publications to confirm the good news about April the giraffe.

According to Today, April’s pregnancy has been a “happy secret” at Animal Adventure Park for about a few weeks, though it’s only now that the park has confirmed the news to the public. This comes close to a month after Animal Adventure Park owner Jordan Patch took to Facebook and hinted at a forthcoming “big test,” one where the park was evaluating some manure samples from April to determine whether she could be expecting a fifth calf or not.

“We’ve done a lot watching and a lot looking and we all have our opinions. But until we’re 100 percent sure, I’m not saying anything,” Swilley said in last month’s video.

Furthermore, Today noted that Animal Adventure Park relaunched its giraffe cam on Tuesday, which showed brief glimpses of April and her family, including the now 1-year-old Tajiri and his father, 6-year-old male giraffe Oliver.

BIG NEWS! Remember April the giraffe? She's pregnant again! https://t.co/UdGKQZzSfO

— KDKA (@KDKA) July 25, 2018

It’s not 100 percent certain when April the giraffe will give birth to her fifth calf, and it’s still too early to say whether Tajiri could be expecting a younger brother or sister. But commenters on Allysa Swilley’s Instagram appear to be hoping for a baby girl, with one user pointing out that April has had three boys and one girl, making another female calf the ideal outcome for her pregnancy.

Regardless of how April the giraffe’s current pregnancy plays out, it does seem that many of the viewers who religiously tuned in last year as she prepared to give birth to Tajiri are excited to keep tabs once again on the reticulated giraffe that became a viral sensation through that last pregnancy. However, it might be a while before things really start to get interesting on the Animal Adventure Park giraffe cam. According to Animal Planet, a giraffe pregnancy usually lasts about 15 months, which, assuming April had actually become pregnant a few weeks ago, could point to her giving birth sometime late next year.