RIP April the Giraffe

 On this Easter Sunday, and  first Sunday off from the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I must share some sad news from our area of New York State.

April the Giraffe, who captivated millions around the world in early 2017 as she prepared to give birth, lived about 20 minutes from me near Harpursville, New York.  On Friday morning, she passed away at the age of 20.  Her death made headlines in our area.

In 2017 and 2019, I blogged about April.  Here are two of the posts (with some edits):

In early 2017, Animal Adventure Park near Harpursville, New York owned a pregnant giraffe by the name of April.  Wanting to keep their fans updated as to the progress of her pregnancy, they installed a web cam in her stall.

Internet lightning struck.  April, as they like to say, went viral, and hundreds of thousands of people watched April give birth in - of course - April, of 2017.

I feed April at Animal Adventure, July 2017

It was a bit of a rocky road, this event that took everyone by surprise.  There are many people who oppose the concept of zoos.  But millions of others took April, Oliver, and the eventual baby - Tajiri - into their hearts.

April and Tajiri, July 2017

The owner of Animal Adventure, Jordan Patch, was not an overnight success.  He started out with a dream and a camel by the name of Maxx.  (Maxx passed away in the summer of 2017).

When the Internet chose April to go viral, Jordan Patch saw an opportunity to help save the world's giraffes.  Giraffes are vulnerable to extinction.  Several species (yes, there is more than one giraffe species) have already gone extinct.  He used the publicity to raise money and awareness.

He has also raised awareness of the world of special needs (as my regular readers know, I have an autistic brother in law) through his young daughter, Ava.and their charity, Ava's Little Heroes.

I was fortunate enough to be able to see April twice - in July of 2017 and, again, in the summer of 2020. 

April had another baby giraffe in April of 2018. Azizi, sadly, predeceased April last year.  (I must note here that Azizi was not living at Animal Adventure by then.)

In a perfect world, no animal should have to live in captivity and have their births live streamed on You Tube.  The animals at Animal Adventure, yes, should be roaming wild in a world where they never have to worry about climate change, or poachers or encroachment of humans on their territories.  But that is not our world.

I hope that one day, it can be.