'Sexually explicit' giraffe birth livestream taken off Youtube

Activists complained the livestream showed 'nudity'. Photo / Youtube

A livestream of a giraffe giving birth in a zoo was removed from Youtube for reportedly containing "nudity" and "sexually explicit content."

A New York zoo, Animal Adventure Park, was streaming April the giraffe's birth cam to educate viewers on the animal's birthing progress.

When animal activists complained about the explicit content the livestream was pulled, according to a zoo spokesman.

"They reported our YouTube cam as sexually explicit, containing nude content which made for its removal on YouTube," he said in a Facebook Live video.

"You've removed an educational tool and you've harmed the species' survival more than you could ever recognise," he told activists.

The spokesman called on YouTube to acknowledge that the content does not contain any pornographic content and restore the livestream, Russia Today reported.

The original livestream had accumulated 30 million viewers in just 12 hours, according to the zoo.

Youtube restored the livestream, which is quickly regaining viewers keen to watch April give birth.

April is 15-years-old is expecting her fourth calf with her mate, Oliver.