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Mom desperately clings to toddler as giraffe snatches her from truck at drive-thru safari

Home> News> Animals

Updated 14:31 6 Jun 2024 GMT+1Published 09:54 6 Jun 2024 GMT+1

Mom desperately clings to toddler as giraffe snatches her from truck at drive-thru safari

The family day out took a dramatic turn when they stopped to feed the giraffes

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

You'd never expect a fun day out to a safari to end in the near-abduction of one of your children, but horrifyingly that's exactly what happened to one family in Texas.

The terrifying ordeal was all caught on camera by another visitor to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, where two-year-old Paisley had gone for a day out with her family.

The park is home to all sorts of animals, from tortoises to tarantulas, wildebeest to cheetahs and many things in between.

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Visitors are able to see the animals either by driving their own cars around the park, or joining a guided tour in one of the park's vehicles.

During the 1.5 hour drive, visitors have chance to feed giraffes from the comfort of their own cars - and it's while doing this that things took a turn for the worse for Paisley's family.

Speaking to KWTX, Paisley’s father, Jason Toten, explained: "We stopped to feed the giraffes, and I turned around to look out the back window, and I saw the giraffe kind of digging around right there, and then it just grabbed her, and I didn’t see her no more."

Paisley was pulled up by her shirt. (Lindsey Merriman via Storyful)
Paisley was pulled up by her shirt. (Lindsey Merriman via Storyful)

In the video shared online, a hungry giraffe can be seen leaning over the roof of the car which carried the two-year-old.

All of a sudden, the young girl can be seen being lifted up from the vehicle by the huge animal, almost pulling her completely free of the vehicle as she attempted to offer it some food.

Lindsey Merriman, another visitor to the park, said she and her family witnessed the incident unfold as they drove a few cars behind Toten's vehicle.

She recalled: “My daughter was recording a giraffe eating out of people’s hands and dipping its head in sunroofs.

"We were three cars behind a red truck and saw the giraffe accidentally grab a little girl’s shirt along with the food and lift her from the bed of the truck.”

Paisley wasn't hurt in the incident. (Lindsey Merriman via Storyful)
Paisley wasn't hurt in the incident. (Lindsey Merriman via Storyful)

Thankfully the giraffe didn't succeed in taking Paisley completely away from the car, and quickly dropped her back into her mother's arms.

Toten expressed belief the giraffe had been trying to grab food out of Paisley's hand, but accidentally grabbed her shirt instead, forcing the family to try and rescue her.

The animal immediately let go of Paisley when her mother yelled: “Hey!”

Thankfully no one was injured as a result of the incident, and Paisley still enjoyed her day out as she walked away with a brand new giraffe toy.

In a statement to UNILAD, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center said: "We were recently made aware of an incident involving one of our giraffes that occurred this past weekend.

"The incident was first reported to us on Monday June 3rd. The safety of our guests and animals is always of utmost importance to us. Although an incident like this has never occurred here previously, we are taking immediate action to make sure it won't happen again."

It continued: "Effective immediately Fossil Rim will no longer be allowing guests to ride through the park in truck beds. Fossil Rim offers a variety of experiences guided by knowledgeable staff so guests can continue to have up-close and memorable animal encounters, and support our mission to save threatened and endangered species."

Featured Image Credit: Lindsey Merriman via Storyful/ YouTube/WFAA

Topics: Animals, Texas, US News

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

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