A towering giraffe remains on the lam after vanishing from a Texas ranch over a week and a half ago — puzzling the public and leading her panicked owner to offer a $5,000 reward to find the long-necked animal.
The giraffe named Gracie disappeared from Cedar Hollow Ranch and was last spotted on a game camera west of Leakey, a small city 100 miles northwest of San Antonio, according to Real County animal rescue officials.
The search for Gracie — whose neck is roughly the size of a whole adult human — will continue into this week after a tip failed to lead rescuers to her on Tuesday, the ranch’s manager, Vick Jones, told NBC News.
Gracie escaped the ranch roughly a week and a half ago, the New York Times reported. It’s unclear when her disappearance was reported to authorities.
She disappeared after feeding on a hillside, where giraffes don’t typically frequent, Jones told NBC.
The tall mammal then wandered off to an unfenced area on the other side of an 8-foot-tall gate and escaped the ranch, Jones said.
Gracie is between 3 and 4 years old and has rounded ears. She is one of two giraffes on the property that houses several hundred exotic animals.
Her owners are now offering a $5,000 for information leading to her capture, officials announced.
Jones told the Times that Gracie isn’t the first giraffe to manage to escape the ranch. Several young male giraffes had previously slipped through an open gate, but returned to the barn during a storm.
Social media users remained perplexed as to how a giraffe could vanish from view with its ginormous size. Female reticulated giraffes reach up to 14 to 16 feet tall and can weigh up to 2,600 pounds, according to the Denver Zoo.
“How the hell do you lose a giraffe?” one user commented under a post about Gracie’s disappearance.
“Maybe it’s a short giraffe. I’m confused how you lose something that is 12 million feet tall,” another user said.
Anyone who runs into Gracie or has information on her whereabouts is urged to contact Jones at 830-279-5822 or the Real County Sheriff’s Office at 830-232-5201.
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