Furtastic Series Banner

April the giraffe is going on birth control

Five babies is enough.
 By 
Heather Dockray
 on 

After having five children in her just 17 years on earth, April the giraffe is ready to go on birth control.

The famous giraffe from Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York will also be moved to a barn where she'll be provided with senior care. Giraffes typically live up to 25 years in the wild and even more in captivity. Zookeepers were concerned that having another baby might negatively impact April's health.

April will still remain a popular exhibit at the zoo.

In the spring of 2017, the park decided to film April's pregnancy and subsequent birth of her fourth child. The giraffe went viral, and understandably so.

In some ways, giraffes have far more brutal pregnancies than humans. Their gestation period is 15 months -- six month longer than human's -- and they often give birth to babies as big as six feet tall and as heavy as 100 to 150 pounds.

Zookeepers made the announcement to retire April over Facebook video.

The decision comes as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service made moves to potentially protect giraffes under the Endangered Species Act.

Since 1985, the giraffe population has declined from 36 to 40 percent. There were just 96,000 giraffes in the wild in 2016.

Still, it's not on April to repopulate the entire species. Congratulations to April on her retirement from motherhood, and kudos to her giraffe insurance provider for covering birth control. I also wish I had retired at 17.

Topics Animals

Mashable Image
Heather Dockray

Heather was the Web Trends reporter at Mashable NYC. Prior to joining Mashable, Heather wrote regularly for UPROXX and GOOD Magazine, was published in The Daily Dot and VICE, and had her work featured in Entertainment Weekly, Jezebel, Mic, and Gawker. She loves small terrible dogs and responsible driving. Follow her on Twitter @wear_a_helmet.

Mashable Potato

More from Furtastic


What's going on with the flying, 80-mile-wide beetle swarm?
Original image replaced with Mashable logo

The PetSafe ScoopFree is a budget Litter-Robot alternative if your cat hates enclosed litter boxes
Cat stepping into litter box and cat sitting on toilet beside litter box

What is the best robot vacuum for pet hair? After testing, my cats and I chose 4 top picks for 2026 so far.
Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete robot vacuum cleaning white fluffy rug

Recommended For You

Make short work of tidying your home with 50% off the Shark AI Ultra Voice Control Robot Vacuum
Shark AI Ultra Voice Control Robot Vacuum on orange and pink abstract background

NASA is so dead set on an April moon launch, it won't talk backup dates
NASA working on the mega moon rocket in the Vehicle Assembly Building

April Full Moon 2026: See the Pink Moon
The full moon in the sky.

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 1, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 3, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 3, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

The Earth is glowing in new Artemis II pictures of home
One half of the Earth is seen floating in space through the open door of the Orion spacecraft.


NYT Strands hints, answers for April 3, 2026
A game being played on a smartphone.
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!