Updated: It’s a boy!

At 7:41 a.m. on Saturday, April 15, Animal Adventure Park posted a Live Feed on Facebook to announce that April, the Giraffe in Harpursville, was in active labor. The crews rushed to spread 50-pound bags of bedding on the floor for extra cushion as the Giraffe Cam, which can be viewed by visiting ApriltheGiraffe.com, went from 324,029 viewers and soared to 1,044,016 by the time the calf, a boy, was delivered at 9:53 a.m. and following a little over two hours of labor and contractions.

The calf, who was expected to weigh approximately 150 pounds at birth, and stand at 6-feet tall, was delivered naturally, and without any problems throughout the process.

The birth of the calf has been streaming live since Feb. 24, and the world has been watching. A text alert system was set up by the animal park a couple of weeks ago as the birth of the calf was taking longer than the park had originally projected. 

The normal gestation period for a giraffe is 15 months, and the park had originally thought the calf, fathered by Oliver, the bull, would be born in January or February. But their timing was a bit off.

By the time April was in actual labor, the amount of viewers on the Giraffe Cam soared to record numbers for the process.

The text alert arrived at 7:37 a.m. to notify those signed up that April was in active labor. On Facebook, the park’s owner, Jordan Patch, was already on a Live Feed as he hurried to get to the park. The excitement shown by Patch in the feed was that of an expectant father.

By 7:59 a.m., 501,569 viewers were watching the Giraffe Cam, with the number doubling by the time of the actual birth.

There were two hooves visible at the time of labor, and this remained the case until approximately 9:31 a.m. when the contractions were getting more frequent, and you could see April pushing a little harder. At that point, there were close to one million watching the Giraffe Cam, and over 80,000 watching a separate live video stream by Patch on Facebook.

By 9:37 a.m., the calf’s head appeared as April continued the birthing process, and by 9:52 a.m. the head and front hooves were visible, with April cleaning the calf throughout the process.

By 9:53 a.m., and after one final push, April delivered her calf.

At that point, the site’s sponsor, Toys R Us, was switched to BabiesRUs, signifying the long awaited birth of April’s calf.

Oliver, throughout the birthing process, was pacing and reacting to the associated smells. As Patch had stated in an interview a while back, the bull, Oliver, doesn’t really care that there is a baby – he just wants to make another one.

For April, she has been spending her time, following the birth, cleaning the calf – which was trying to stand within minutes following the birth. The calf, however, was not successful at standing up until 10:42 a.m.

But soon, the calf was eating and Oliver went outside. The park’s owner also went offline on the live Facebook feed, but noted that April and her calf will be left alone for a while.

Then at 12:57 p.m., the park announced that April’s calf is a boy. For 15-year-old April, the new calf is her fourth. For five-year-old Oliver, it’s his first calf.

Also, a naming contest has been launched, and anyone interested in casting a vote for a name can nominate it for $1 on the park’s GoFundMe page, which will launch this weekend. 

According to the park, any money raised will be divided between giraffe conservation in the wild, giraffe care at Animal Adventure and Ava’s Little Heroes annual fundraiser. There will be a total of six selected for the social-media naming contest.

In the meantime, April and the new calf are enjoying their bonding time at the park, which officially opens on May 13 in Harpursville, N.Y.

To learn more, visit ApriltheGiraffe.com. On the park’s Facebook page, the live feed remains on the site for those to view the actual birthing process.