April the Giraffe, who became a viral sensation during her 2017 pregnancy, dies

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Friday, April 2, 2021
April the Giraffe, who went viral during her 2017 pregnancy, dies
April the Giraffe, who famously broke the internet during her 2017 pregnancy when the live camera inside her habitat took off on YouTube, has died.

April the Giraffe, who famously broke the internet during her 2017 pregnancy when the live camera inside her habitat took off on YouTube, has died.

Animal Adventure Park on Friday announced that the beloved animal was euthanatized due to her worsening arthritis.

April was 20 years old.

"We credit and thank the outstanding collective care provided by the park's veterinarians and animal care team with keeping April happy and healthy during her more than five year stay at Animal Adventure," a Facebook post from the park said. "Both teams have made every possible effort to keep her comfortable and prolong her life while managing her condition. Over the past year, accommodations were made and treatments performed, including yard substrate changes, installation of a state-of-the-art padded barn flooring system, coupled with farrier work, dietary and medical changes. April's most recent veterinary exam identified the acceleration of April's condition, prompting the determination that euthanasia was the humane and appropriate course of action."

Her body was taken to the Cornell University Veterinary School for a necropsy. She will then be cremated and her ashes will be returned to Animal Adventure Park.

April's youngest calf, Azizi, unexpectedly died at a Texas zoo last year.

In 2019, Animal Adventure Park announced that April would go on birth control and retire from the park's breeding program.

April's giraffe cam made Animal Adventure Park the second most live-viewed channel in YouTube's history at the time, with more than 232 million live views from February to May. More than 1.2 million viewers were watching when April gave birth to calf Tajiri.