The miracle of birth is a momentous and long-awaited event, and when you’ve been pregnant for 15 months and your baby will be born 6 feet tall, the event is even more herculean.
Now, Animal Planet has set up live-streaming cameras to capture the live birth of a giraffe living at the Dallas Zoo. Within the next few days, viewers will be able to watch Katie the Giraffe, one of the zoo herd’s most charismatic and charming animals, give birth. It’s a marvel of modern technology that viewers around the world get to share in a live giraffe birth.
The live-streaming camera shows Katie in an indoor stall where she can be comfortable and well tended to by the zoo’s veterinary staff. A total of eight cameras will capture the event and I am guessing they’ll go live once vets have determined that Katie is in active labor. For now, a single camera shows Katie standing peacefully within the stall, and “chatting” with the zoo’s other giraffes, including her firstborn calf, Jamie.
I’ve been watching the live camera for a few minutes and it’s absolutely transfixing to imagine that any time now, Katie is going to become a momma and we get to watch. But, if you don’t have all day to gaze at giraffes, you can sign up for text and e-mail alerts that will let you know when the action is heating up in the maternity stall.
If you stop in to the live cam site and the pen is empty, don’t worry; Katie is just outside getting some fresh air. I wonder if the old adage is true, “if you want to go into labor, take a long walk,” especially because I think giraffes rarely sit down. I don’t think they dine on spicy food or drink raspberry tea, though.
Katie’s keepers invite viewers to check in with Katie around 5 p.m. CT, when she gets dinner and begins to settle in for the evening.
