The Baby Giraffe

Saturday brought a delivery of sorts in the form of a baby giraffe.

April the giraffe had her little one, a boy, on April 15, 2017. The baby weighed in at 129 pounds, 5'9" a day after his birth, according to reports I saw.

I just happened to tune in to the youtube live stream just in time to see little hooves stick out of mama April. I squealed.

Yes, I admit it. I squealed. That was around 7:40 a.m.

I watched for most of the entire time, along with 1.25 million other people. I did a few other things - answered email, ate my breakfast at my keyboard - but mostly I kept an eye on the progress of this birth.

How often does one have the opportunity to watch a giraffe begin born, after all? Even if it is via a satellite stream.

The labor took a few hours, with feet and legs dangling for an hour. Had this been a cow, we might have gone ahead and pulled it, to be sure of a live birth, but the vet kept sticking his thumb in front of the camera in a thumb's up sign, assuring us breathless viewers that all was well.

I sat in front of my computer shouting, "Come on April! Push! You can do it!" It was rather like the way my husband yells at sports teams.

The baby's head came out of April, and then the little giraffe's birth occurred rather quickly. Just before 10 a.m., he slid what seemed a very long way to the floor, landing in a motionless heap. I held my breath, watching, and then I saw it move. Whew.

Momma giraffe immediately commenced her ministrations, licking at the little body to clean it, warm it, and nurture it.

At about 10:35 a.m., little baby giraffe stood up. He wobbled unsteadily on those very long skinny legs. I gave another cheer.

Here are a few stills from the live stream that I have taken creative license with:



April helping the little one to its feet for the first time. Oliver, the baby's dad, is in the other cage.

Mom and baby after a couple of hours.



A little maternal kiss.

The feed is still up if you want to watch the little one grow. You can access it here. (If he has wandered into the corner where the cameras are, you won't see him. Back up the feed and you can see him if that happens.)