Newborn giraffe is an internet sensation

In this photo provided by Animal Adventure Park in Binghamton, N.Y., a giraffe named April stands with her new calf on Saturday, April 15, 2017. Her birth was broadcast to an online audience of more than a million viewers. (Animal Adventure Park via AP)

Over one million viewers watched the live broadcast when the giraffe April gave birth to a male calf in a zoo in New York.

Animal lovers have been waiting for the birth since the zoo began broadcasting from the corral in February, and at least 1.2 million followed streaming of the actual birth.

The 15-years-old giraffe introduced the calf to the world Saturday morning at the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York State. The father, Oliver, watched from another enclosure.

Around 45 minutes after the calf was born, it was able to stand on his own, shaky legs for the first time, while the mother April helped the kid to keep his head steady. Not long after he began to suckle.

Giraffes have a gravidity period of around 15 months and give birth alone.

– When the calf is born, it comes out of the mother with hooves first, almost two meters above the ground, making it a very exciting event, according to the zoo’s owner – Jordan Patch.

The giraffe April has her own website, and in connection with birth there was donated more than one million NOK, which will be used to take care of the animals. The name of calf is to be decided by means of a competition.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today