Tajiri, the calf born to April the giraffe on camera in 2017, turned nine on April 15, 2026.

For readers following Tessa’s giraffe birth watch at Cincinnati Zoo, April’s story is a familiar reference point. But the names belong to separate family stories. Tajiri and Azizi were April’s sons. Fennessy is Tessa’s son, and Zoey shares his father. There’s no publicly established family connection between April and Tessa.

The New York story begins with April and Oliver, the parents of both Tajiri and Azizi. Tajiri, often called Taj, was born on April 15, 2017, after weeks of viewers checking the park’s camera. YouTube recorded a peak of more than 1.2 million simultaneous viewers on the day of his birth.

April and Oliver’s next calf, Azizi, arrived on March 16, 2019, during another livestream. He and Tajiri were full brothers because they shared both parents.

Azizi died at East Texas Zoo and Gator Park on October 27, 2020. He was the younger son whose death some readers remember when they ask what happened to April’s calf. April died on April 2, 2021.

April’s family also extends into Pennsylvania through her son Levi. Levi and Blue Jeans are the parents of Calvin, Timber, Keyari and Savannah. The pair moved from Living Treasures Wild Animal Park in the New Castle area to Keystone Safari in Grove City in late 2018.

Blue Jeans gave birth to Savannah at Keystone Safari on August 22, 2025. She’s April’s granddaughter and Tajiri’s niece.

Family connection	Giraffes
April and Oliver’s sons	Tajiri, born in 2017; Azizi, born in 2019
Another son of April	Levi
Levi and Blue Jeans’s calves	Calvin (2017), Timber (2021), Keyari (2023) and Savannah (2025)

Tajiri lives at The Preserve Safari in Harpursville, New York, across the road from Animal Adventure Park, where he was born.

Tessa’s calves and the Cincinnati family connections

Tessa’s birth history reaches back to 2011. She and Kimba were the parents of Zuri, followed by Lulu in 2012, Nasha in 2014 and Fennessy in 2019. Zuri died on July 1, 2011, at three months old.

Fennessy, also called Fenn, was born in June 2019. He shares both parents with Tessa’s three earlier calves. His connection to the calf expected in 2026 runs through his mother: Tessa is pregnant by Zeke, so the expected calf will be Fennessy’s maternal half-sibling.

That’s why the zoo’s March 2026 pregnancy announcement describes Fennessy as the expected calf’s half-brother. Kimba fathered Fennessy; Zeke is the father named for this pregnancy.

Zoey has a different mother, Jambo. She was born on September 13, 2016, and her father was also Kimba. That makes Zoey and Fennessy paternal half-siblings: they share a father, while their mothers are Jambo and Tessa.

Parents	Offspring in these Cincinnati branches
Tessa and Kimba	Zuri (2011), Lulu (2012), Nasha (2014) and Fennessy (2019)
Jambo and Kimba	Zoey (2016)
Tessa and Zeke	The calf expected in 2026

On October 28, 2026, Cincinnati Zoo’s website was still describing Tessa as “due any day.” The zoo announced the pregnancy on March 12, with her fifth calf due in October.

Tessa had an online birth watch before April’s 2017 livestream. When Lulu arrived on October 12, 2012, Cincinnati Zoo shared the delivery through live tweets. This time, viewers can watch Tessa through the zoo’s indoor and outdoor feeds as it prepares for its first live video broadcast of an animal birth.

Featured image: Editorial illustration of giraffe generations.