BABY WATCH
Three pregnant zoo giraffes might deliver soon or as late as this fall.
Albuquerque BioPark officials won’t follow the social media craze set off by a New York zoo that live streamed, for weeks, the pregnancy of their giraffe, April, and the birth of her baby. But that won’t lessen the excitement over the pregnancies of three of Albuquerque’s giraffes.
BioPark officials aren’t sure they want to pester the animals or keep them contained enough to live stream the pregnancy and arrival of the calves, which are expected make their appearance between May and October.
“The publicity is not our goal,” said BioPark marketing coordinator Greg Jackson.
The pregnant giraffes are Camilla, June and Naira, and the father of all three babies is the zoo’s only adult male giraffe, Buccaneer.
Zoos across the nation and world follow guidelines for breeding to ensure genetic health and diversity, including the breeding of Buccaneer with the three females at the BioPark.
He is the father of Kumi, the most recent calf to be born at the BioPark, about two years ago to June, who is the most experienced of the three expecting giraffes.
“We are very excited to welcome more members to our giraffe herd,” Paul Huang, BioPark senior zookeeper, said in the announcement. “We are monitoring their health closely and hoping for the best.”
Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, N.Y. , live streamed the long pregnancy of giraffe, April, and ultimate birth of her calf, prompting a social media frenzy with people tuning in daily. She had her own website, an apparel line, a GoFundMe page that raised more than $125,000 for the care of the zoo animals, in addition to a dozen other April-related but unaffiliated fundraiser pages. People even wrote songs about awaiting the birth.