Fugitive giraffe found by helicopter after 2 weeks on the run in Texas

A 3-year-old runaway giraffe was found by helicopter Friday after escaping from its home on a private ranch in Texas for two weeks.

The 1,200-pound giraffe named Gracie wandered away from her fenced habitat at Cedar Hollow Farm in Leakey, Texas, on June 12.

The 10-foot-long animal was spotted by helicopter Friday morning in a remote, heavily forested area about four miles south of the farm.

Vick Jones, who manages the farm, told FOX 7 that Gracie moved there in May and was still not used to the environment when she left.

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He explained that he probably did not intend to leave the farm, but was feeding in an area of ​​the farm where the giraffes had never been before and went out and came back through the wrong side of the gate.

Gracie is one of two giraffes living on the property.

“It’s just one of those bad deals that happen, you know?” he told the station. “And accidentally, as I said, no giraffe had ever been in that area before, and he did this.”

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Jones decided to post a missing person alert for Gracie on a local lost and found app.

“I thought, maybe some of the local people on the farms, people who work on some of these farms, might see this or hear this and give me an idea of ​​which direction he might have gone off the property,” Jones explained. “And 24 hours later it spread all over the world.”

Gracie was finally spotted by helicopter two weeks later. (FOX7)

The post quickly went viral; people were taking AI photos of Gracie everywhere, working as a lifeguard at the pool, working as a firefighter who didn’t need a ladder, or floating down a lazy river with a float.

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“Now I know what the word viral means,” Jones joked.

Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson said after Gracie was found Friday, Jones called a veterinarian and they were preparing to send a team to take her back to the farm.

“He’s in good shape,” Jones said. “He’s standing there, wagging his tail.”

She also emphasized that he was a gentle giant who did no harm to anyone.

Gracie lives in the Texas Hill Country. (Josh Noel/Chicago Tribune)

“If you move towards him, he’ll run away,” he said.

Gracie was found on vacant private property near a pond and stream, with plenty of vegetation to eat.

For the trip home, Gracie will need to be sedated, put a hood over her eyes, and then be transported in an outdoor trailer, followed by an enclosed trailer made for giraffes.

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The Texas Hill Country has one of the largest concentrations of exotic animals in the United States, and Johnson said he has received calls in the past for missing monkeys and zebras but not giraffes.

Jones said he now plans to build a fence around the area where Gracie was found, even though it would require drilling into the rock.