An animal park in New York is awaiting the birth of a new giraffe — and is streaming it live for the whole world to see.
The event, however, sparked controversyafter animal rights activists convinced YouTube to suspend the feed for “nudity and sexual content,” according toAnimal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York. The livestream is now back up and the park released the following statement on its Facebook page:
Peta gave Metro this statement: “The content of the video isn’t the problem—it’s that another giraffe will be born into captivity, only to be denied virtually everything that’s natural and important to him or her so that people can gawk at the spectacle of having a giraffe in New York state.
“Confining sensitive giraffes to tiny roadside zoo enclosures that are only a fraction of the size of their massive home range in nature is an abomination that started more than 100 years ago, when the first giraffe was taken from the wild, never to gallop freely again. It’s time for zoos to prioritize animal welfare and end all animal-breeding programs immediately.”
According to the park, this is the fourth calf for the mom, April, who is 15, and the first for her mate, Oliver, who is 5.
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The calf will weigh around 150 pounds at birth and be about 6 feet tall, with the front hooves coming out first followed by the snout. Mom will raise the calf, with the weaning period around six to 10 months.
Once the calf is born, the park is planning on having a contest to name it.
The baby willreportedly be born within the next few days, but once the birth process begins it should take a few hours to a day.
