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Top 10 Names For April The Giraffe's Baby Announced, Final Vote Next

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The list on what to call the internet's most-watched baby giraffe has narrowed the down to 10 names.

April the Giraffe, the viral video star from Animal Adventure Park, gave birth April 15 at the privately owned zoo in New York. The 15-year-old mommy giraffe delivered her calf shortly before 10 a.m. EDT in an enclosed pen at the zoo in Harpursville, a rural upstate village about 130 miles northwest of New York City.

Animal Adventure Park released the top 10 name choices for their baby giraffe and called for round 2 voting via www.NameAprilsCalf.com.

Here are the choices:

  • "Alyssa's Choice"
  • Apollo
  • Geoffrey
  • Gio
  • Harpur
  • Noah
  • Ollie
  • Patch
  • Patches
  • Unity

At least 1.2 million people watched the Adventure Park's YouTube streaming of the event. A logo on the feed quickly changed from ToysRUs to BabiesRUs following the birth.

Besides the cuteness factor, April's new baby is important for animal conservation. The giraffe population has declined by 40 percent in the last three decades, making the species vulnerable to extinction.

"Any time there is a species that is either vulnerable or on the verge of extinction and they have that baby it is very important to that conservation," Cassy Holets, a giraffe keeper, said.

While mom and the baby spent their first day bonding, human families flocked to the Turtleback Zoo in West Orange to celebrate, CBS2's Ali Bauman reported.

"We don't go to the zoo a lot I don't get to see that kinda stuff a lot, so it was fun to see it on Facebook," Kayla Westergaard, of Montville, said.

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