In a heart-stopping incident at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas, a man was driving with his wife and their 2-year-old daughter when their outing took a dangerous turn. The family was visiting the wildlife park when their daughter was suddenly picked up by a giraffe, only to be swiftly rescued by her mother. Luckily, no one was harmed in the ordeal.
The incident, which occurred on June 1st, involved Jason Toten driving a pickup truck around the park with his wife Sierra Robert and their daughter Paisley Toten in the back bed of the truck. Out of nowhere, a giraffe grabbed Paisley by her clothes and lifted her into the air. Sierra acted quickly, pulling her daughter back to safety without any injuries.
The dramatic scene was captured by passengers in a following vehicle. Jason recalled that they had stopped to feed the giraffes when he turned around just in time to see the giraffe grabbing Paisley and taking her away.
Paisley was holding a feed bag at the time, leading Jason to speculate that the giraffe might have been trying to snatch the bag and accidentally took her clothes along with it. When Paisley was grabbed, Sierra immediately screamed at the giraffe to release her, and thankfully, the giraffe complied, allowing Sierra to retrieve Paisley.
Although no injuries occurred in this incident, it was a harrowing experience for the Toten family. Jason admitted his heart stopped beating momentarily, and the shock of the situation was overwhelming.
To comfort Paisley, they later bought her a giraffe stuffed animal from a souvenir shop at the park. Despite the unsettling event, they plan to visit the zoo again in the future.
According to the park’s regulations, anyone can ride in the back bed of a vehicle as long as there is an adult present, and in case of an emergency, everyone should be able to get inside the vehicle.
Jason emphasized that they were following the park’s rules during their visit, and Paisley being grabbed by the giraffe was purely accidental. The family hopes that such a frightening event won’t deter them from enjoying the wildlife park in the future.