Animal Adventure Park and the entire Southern Tier is saying goodbye to a legend that put the area in the national spotlight.

The park announced via a lengthy Facebook post Friday afternoon that April the giraffe, who shot to fame when the park livestreamed her pregnancy and birth on YouTube in 2017, was euthanized due to worsening arthritis at the recommendation of her veterinary team. April was 20 years old.

The park added that giraffes in captivity typically live to be 20-25 years old, and wild giraffes' life expectancy is 10-15 years.

The post outlines a lengthy study and set of actions park officials took after noticing changes in April's mobility in summer 2020. Medical procedures listed developing osteoarthritis in April's left hind leg.

Every avenue to keep April comfortable and extend her life was attempted, according to the park. Methods like padded barn flooring, dietary changes, medical treatments, yard substrate changes, and more were implemented, which you can learn more about by reading Animal Adventure's post below:

It is with the heaviest of hearts that Animal Adventure Park announces the tremendous loss of our beloved April the...

Posted by Animal Adventure Park on Friday, April 2, 2021

However park officials say their ability to treat April was outpaced by the advancement of the osteoarthritis -- with her mobility continuing to decline and the giraffe spent increasingly more time laying on the ground. Most recent medical reports indicated that her condition was accelerating, and that euthanization was the most appropriate and humane course to take, the post reads.

April became and international phenomenon in 2017, when the giraffe was pregnant with a calf. Animal Adventure decided to set up a round-the-clock live feed on YouTube of the pregnancy and birth of her calf named Tajiri -- racking up 14 million views, according to Variety.

Tajiri was transferred to a North Carolina Wildlife Conservation Park in 2018. April was put on birth control in 2019.

[via Animal Adventure ParkVariety, NPR, Spectrum News]

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