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April the Giraffe still pregnant? Check out 5 other critter cams

From kittens (aww!) to jellyfish (ooh!) to sharks (aiieee!), here are other animal livestreams for when April isn't delivering the goods -- and the baby.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
3 min read

Been tuning in to April the pregnant giraffe's livestream? Getting a bit weary of watching her kind of mosey around the barn, standing half in shadow, occasionally receiving a visit from the vet?

There's no telling when April, who lives at Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York, will give birth to her fourth calf. Giraffes are pregnant for 15 months, "give or take 60 days," the park's veterinarian said in a video last month.

And things seem to be stalled at the moment. On Monday, the park posted on Facebook that "early morning observations indicate no significant changes in physical appearance. ...We are waiting for increased pacing to indicate an active labor situation has begun, in addition to pushing/contractions."

So while you're waiting on April to decide if April is to be her calf's birth month, here are 5 other livestreams to check out.

1. Kitten Academy


What's better than watching a live camera focused on frolicking kittens? Watching four live cameras focused on frolicking kittens! These kittens, located in Illinois, are being fostered as they wait for forever homes, and they play, chase, eat, sleep and cuddle, all on camera. You can even watch at night, because they have night-vision cams set up (but for the cats, it seems dark).

2. Shark Cam

This is as close as most humans ever want to get to live sharks. The cam at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco features 13 species of sea creatures, including sharks, sting rays and more. Stop by at 1:30 p.m. PT on Tuesdays and Thursdays to watch their feedings. You'll have to provide your own "Jaws" theme song though.

3. Jellyfish Cam

There's something calming about watching these jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium drift and float past the camera's lens. As with the sharks, give thanks you're not actually in the tank with these cam stars. "Their graceful trailing parts are covered in stinging cells used for hunting," the YouTube text notes. "When their tentacles touch tiny drifting prey, the stinging cells paralyze it and stick tight. The prey is moved to the mouth-arms and then to the mouth, where it's digested." Yikes, we'll stay on this side of the tank, then.

4. Panda Cam

Kittens have to be right up there on the cute animal list, but pandas might make a good case for the No. 1 spot. This live camera is located in the Gengda Wolong Panda Center in Gengda, China, which was rebuilt in a new location after the devastating 2008 earthquake. The pandas are a lot like toddlers at a Kindercare -- rolling around, chasing each other, wrestling, then suddenly napping.

5. Eagle Cam

There are plenty of bird nest cams, but few are as impressive as those watching America's national bird, the bald eagle. These eagles are roosting high in an oak tree north of Decorah, Iowa. At night, you might see the eagle sitting proudly in her nest, during the day, you might see one feeding the chicks. The eagle pair take turns incubating any eggs, which hatch in about 35 days. April the giraffe only wishes her baby would arrive that quickly.

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