NY - Giraffe Watch: April, 15, due to give birth at Animal Adventure Park

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Jax49 said:
"Females are ready to mate when they are about 4 years of age. What is really disgusting for most people is that the males will taste the urine of the females. This process will help him to discover which ones are ready to mate. They will be the ones with more estrus in their urine which is a type of hormone. The courting rituals of giraffes involve the chin resting of the male on the back of the female."
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.
I knew April & Ollie were dating on the cover pic on her website.


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Looks like they are installing the toys and other stuff they spoke of now.


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Jax49 said:
Magic tongue, sorta. LOL. He can taste the difference in ready and not-ready.

http://www.giraffeworlds.com/giraffe-reproduction/

"Females are ready to mate when they are about 4 years of age. What is really disgusting for most people is that the males will taste the urine of the females. This process will help him to discover which ones are ready to mate. They will be the ones with more estrus in their urine which is a type of hormone. The courting rituals of giraffes involve the chin resting of the male on the back of the female."
Click to expand...

right, he isnt checking to see if she is pregnant, he is checking to see if its time to mate with her again, and while their interactions are cute if they were in the wild he would have been off down the road right after mating, he doesnt have any interest in the offspring. i dont know if giraffes in captivity behave any differently tho.
 
Still no Baby G, but my GMA and I were excited to find the first of this year's newly hatched baby tortoises in her yard!

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3/21 Evening Update

Keeper Report: April seems to be a bit more "off", dare we say agitated today (later day). April has had some serious back end swell and pulse today, witnessed by Jordan & Corey prior to enrichment install. Both giraffes enjoyed their newest enrichment toys until Oliver broke his and we went back to the drawing board. Improvements made and the will be re-introduced tomorrow around 9:30 am EST - be sure to tune in!
What the heck was the vet doing today and why was April put off?
Vet Report: "So if you were watching me in with her this evening (6:30ish) you would have seen a fairly cranky giraffe... you also would have seen me in there with a little white box looking thing. This is my doppler. Over the past few weeks I've been trying to desensitize her to seeing, hearing and being touched by it. It's easy to forget that she is a big and dangerous creature, you have to be real careful with how far you push them.

17342483_935762253193321_4592490657982816157_n.jpg


April and Alyssa are so cute. :loveyou:

Did anyone see the vet in today? Did he use the ultrasound on her or is he just carrying it around trying to get her used to it? I never noticed him carrying a white box.
 
Sounds like he/she is just trying to get April used to him carrying it into her own. That said, I didn't witness it.

Poor April. It's hard to watch her pace around that small enclosure.

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come on April, let's get this show on the road.....this thread is almost a month old!
 
U2forever said:
I'm looking at this too. Ollie keeps sticking out the tongue wanting a snack.
He is too cute.

Not a good idea to try & make a break for it April. Way to cold out for you. Lol


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There is something on that door frame Oliver desperately wants. He keeps opening the door when he is licking it.
 
LaborofLobe, I watched when they installed the enrichment toys, my first thought was Ollie is going to tear the blue feeder up real soon.
When I checked back, it was gone. April picked up on it real fast & she was enjoying the treats she got out of it. I'm sure treats were gobbled up quickly once she got the hang of it. Not sure bout Ollie, being so young & prolly a bit impatient.

ETA
Ollie is still licking the spot round Aprils door & for a second I thought he was going to open it. He's working on something. I know the door is latched but...
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They're such elegant dorks. Only way I can describe them. [emoji851]


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I check in from time to time on the video, but honestly, it breaks my heart to see these beautiful animals locked up in captivity. It must be torture being locked in a 20'x20' cell. Even if it's 30x30, it's just cruel.

I do want to see the birth. But watching is stressful watching them pacing and being so bored. "Enrichment"? Sorry, I'm not buying it. It's just propaganda to placate the thousands of emails they're getting. Then they whine about getting so many emails. Hey, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. How much have they made from donations and sponsors? I see that ToysRUs now has their logo on the video stream.

And how "overdue" is she from their original estimated due date? How closely do they monitor their animals to be so off?

Ever since I saw "Blackfish" my entire attitude about zoos has changed. I love the idea of sanctuaries for rescued animals. But I can't stand that these two beautiful creatures are locked up in boxes in upstate NY. :mad: :mad:
 
From personal observations, from watching this camera for weeks, and weeks now.... that white box, the doppler the vet brought in, was the FIRST time I have seen it, and I've watched the vet visits!!

I still don't know how they were this far off on her due date.... baffling.

I watched the escape attempt today and was routing for April to make it out! LOL! I know she would have just been in the hall of the barn, but was still funny. Can't believe that people were calling, emailing the zoo, and some even called 911 to report it! Sheesh, you know if they are streaming this live, they have someone employeed that is keeping an eye on the camera....

I sure wish she would have that calf though. Ever time I think "This is it!"..... she stops all activity that looks promising. So I keep watching, but not commenting much anymore.
 
LOL Dorks! The other night I told my husband that April was walking with her neck down, and moving so slow she reminded me of a slouth!
 
Wonder if she's having twins? Wonder when the heck the calf will get here?? Will it be between 1-3am when she typically shows the most activity?

And if a giraffe only has an attention span of 15 seconds, then maybe that explains why no baby yet! Every time she starts to have it, she forgets what she's doing. :)
 
What are the enrichment toys and where are they? When people mentioned them yesterday, I thought they were for us, to keep us busy while waiting for April to give birth. :blushing:

This video on rabbit enrichment ideas gave me some ideas that could be adapted for giraffes.

[video=youtube;hx-Rw3SkdbQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx-Rw3SkdbQ[/video]

1. A wooden sandbox that they can stand in
2. Young acacia trees around the periphery of the pens
3. Preserved tree branches hanging from ceiling; suet feeders filled with acacia leaves hanging from the branches.
4. Gridded ceiling with hanging, edible plants cascading down

JMO
 
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