Animal Adventure Park launches campaign to name April the giraffe's calf
— -- April the giraffe finally gave birth to a healthy male calf this Saturday in Harpursville, New York, as over 1 million people watched in real time from around the world on the Animal Adventure Park's livestream.
The internet-famous baby giraffe, however, still does not have a name, according to Jordan Patch, the owner of Animal Adventure Park, who appeared live on "Good Morning America" today to ask for the public's help in naming the calf.
"We’re actually going to have the world help us vote on that name," Patch said on "GMA." "Our naming contest is up now at nameaprilscalf.com where you can go in and make a monetary donation for the name of choice."
Patch announced a 10-day campaign in which fans can vote on a name for April's calf for a fee of $1 per vote with a minimum purchase of five votes. The money raised will be used for giraffe conservation efforts, the charity Ava's Little Heroes and also go toward supporting the Animal Adventure Park where April the giraffe and her calf reside.
"Now the neat thing about these funds that we’re raising, they’re going to be spread out for some great causes," he explained. "Number one is we’re using a portion of them for giraffe conservation in the wild. This partnership along with our partnership with Toys ‘R’ Us is making some tangible results for that, and then also we’re contributing to a foundation we started here in town to help sick children, called Ava’s Little Heroes."
The Animal Adventure Park's giraffe-cam has captivated nearly 300 million viewers since it launched in February, according to the park. April's nearly 16-month pregnancy culminated this Saturday, when she gave birth to her calf after being in labor for two hours. Her male calf weighs 129 pounds and stands at 5 feet, 9 inches tall.
Both mom and baby are doing "absolutely great," said Patch.
"Mom had a perfect delivery, perfect birthing," he added. "She’s been a phenomenal mother thus far. Very protective and very encouraging of her calf. He's very outgoing. And Oliver [the dad], usually males have no part in the raising of the young, [but] he’s actually been quite inquisitive and getting nose to nose with baby. It’s creating some very cute moments."
Patch said the birth of the new calf is a "huge accomplishment" for Animal Adventure Park.
"We’re a relatively young facility. So to have a giraffe calf in our fifth year of being open, that’s a big accomplishment for us," he said. "But on a grander scale is that we’ve taken the conversation of the silent extinction of giraffes from a very small conversation to a worldwide conversation at dinner tables, coffee shops and classrooms."
ABC News' Morgan Winsor contributed to this report
