After 16 months, the long-awaited arrival of April the giraffe’s calf has finally come. The baby giraffe, a boy, was weighed in at 129 pounds and is 5’9”.

The birth took place at New York’s Animal Adventure Park, where April resides. It was also livestreamed, and according to the Associated Press, at least 1.2 million people watched the event on the park’s YouTube page.

Mrs. Cheryl Campbell, an English teacher at Naugatuck High School, was one who really took notice in the birth over the past few weeks. She spent roughly ten hours on the livestream waiting for the baby calf. When asked how she felt once the calf was born, she said, “I felt relieved to see the baby was finally born and healthy. I also felt happy for April on the birth of her new calf.”

April is one of the zoo’s most popular members, and her pregnancy has been anticipated by the whole country. After being pregnant for 16 months and being in labor for 2, the birth came at the right time as giraffes are in the process of a “silent extinction.”

Jeff Flocken, a North America regional director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, stated to Yahoo, “Only recently have we looked at them critically and seen this huge drop, which has been a shock to the conservation community. This is an iconic animal and it’s in deep trouble.” According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, the population has plummeted over the past few years all the way down to less than 100,000.

Through her fifteen year life, April has now given birth to four calves. Unlike the others, her recent pregnancy took the country by storm and many took notice. The father of the most recent is Oliver, who is only five years old and a first time father.

The zoo announced in a press release that there will be a naming contest for the calf. It will cost a dollar each vote and you can enter and vote as many times as you’d like.