April The Giraffe May Be Pregnant Again, Animal Adventure Park Says

The pregnant giraffe who captivated the internet for months while people anxiously awaited the birth of her calf may be pregnant again.

It's been a little more than a year since April the giraffe gave birth, and now the professionals at Animal Adventure Park, where April lives, think she might be pregnant again, Jordan Patch, the co-owner of the park, said in a video on Facebook Tuesday.

"We have some exciting news today as we continue our journey," he said, with April's calf, Tajiri, visible in the background.

Patch explained that employees at the park had sampled April's feces every day for a month now. They've been collecting the samples from her pen and then freezing the specimen. Those samples are going to be shipped to another laboratory that will test whether or not April is pregnant.

Another park employee explained that many staffers had their theories about April's state but weren't going to share them until they knew for sure whether April was carrying.

"As you know, it's quite a saga and quite a journey anytime we're expecting a giraffe calf here at Animal Adventure, and let today mark day one of this journey for a possible calf in 2019," Patch said.

It has not been determined exactly when Animal Adventure would get the results of the pregnancy tests, or when the results would be announced.

The last time 16-year-old April was pregnant, she became the talk of social media as people tuned in to the live stream, waiting for her to give birth. Millions of people watched as April missed due date after due date in 2017 until she finally gave birth on April 15 of that year.

A live stream is still available on the Animal Adventure Park website for anyone who wants to look at April and guess whether or not she's pregnant.

April lives with a six-year-old giraffe named Oliver, who is Tajiri's dad. The three live in the same pen in the giraffe barn at the animal park. Giraffes generally gestate anywhere from 14 to 15 months, so if April is pregnant, there won't be a baby to look out for until at least next summer, depending on how far along she could be at present.

giraffe
A newborn giraffe follows its mother outside for the first time at Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo in Amsterdam on April 17. April the giraffe, who lives at Animal Adventure Park in New York state, is... Robin van Lonkhuijsen

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Nina was a breaking news reporter. She previously worked at Business Insider, The Boston Globe, and Boston.com.

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