PETA Statement on Decision to Clear ‘Giraffe Cam’ Mother for Pregnancy Again

For Immediate Release:
October 13, 2017

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet regarding an announcement by Animal Adventure Park—a roadside zoo in upstate New York that filmed the labor and delivery of a giraffe named April with a “giraffe cam” set up in her stall—that April has been cleared for yet another pregnancy just months after giving birth:

Fragile, sensitive giraffes don’t belong in captivity—or in freezing upstate New York. Animal Adventure Park already wrung every dollar and video hit that it could out of this giraffe’s pregnancy, and now it can’t wait to do so again. Since 80 percent of captive giraffes display severe stress-induced behavior, such as endless pacing, and more than 150 of them have died prematurely behind bars in U.S. facilities since 2000, PETA is calling on this zoo to prioritize animal welfare over fleeting online fame and end its shameful giraffe-breeding program.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” and more information about giraffes in captivity is available here.