A Texas family had a terrifying experience at a drive-thru safari park earlier this month when a giraffe reached inside their pickup truck and hoisted their 2-year-old daughter into the air.
The incident occurred at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas, where tourists drive through a trail with animals such as cheetahs, emus, zebras, and wildebeests and can feed them from their cars.
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“We stopped to feed the giraffes, and I turned around to look out the back window,” Jason Toten told CBS station KWTX. “At that moment, I observed the giraffe digging in the ground, and it then grabbed her.”
The giraffe grabbed his 2-year-old daughter, Paisley, by the shirt from the back of their pickup. The giraffe lifted her a few feet in the air, and her mother, who was in the pickup bed with her, yelled at the giraffe, causing the animal to let go.
The incident was captured on camera by the folks in the car behind them, who then shared it with the family.
Toten said it appeared to be an accident, and the family did not violate park rules, which include keeping car doors closed, feeding animals with cups rather than your hands, and staying 50 feet away from gates.
“Paisley was holding the bag, and the giraffe went to go get the bag, not get her, but ended up getting her shirt too and picking her up,” he explained.
“My heart stopped and my stomach fell. “It scared me,” he explained.
The experience did not deter the family, and Toten expressed a desire to return. Paisley also acquired a plush giraffe from the souvenir shop after the hard journey.
