Gracie, the giraffe whose disappearance from a Texas ranch turned her into a viral runaway, has been found safe about two weeks after she slipped away — and authorities say she appeared to be doing just fine.
Real County Sheriff Nathan T. Johnson told News4 San Antonio that Gracie seemed to have a playful “catch me if you can sucker’s attitude” when searchers finally spotted her from the air.
Her owner, 72-year-old Vick Jones, had teamed up with an aviation company to help locate the missing animal, the Real County Sheriff’s Office said in a Friday morning update.
“Mr. Jones has contacted his veterinarian and is putting a team together to safely capture Gracie and bring her home,” the sheriff’s office said.
Officials said the plan is to work with Jones’ veterinarian to sedate Gracie so she can be safely transported back to the ranch.
Jones told News4 that Gracie appeared healthy after her time away. “She’s in good shape. She’s standing there, swishing her tail,” he said.
The roughly 4-year-old giraffe was located about four miles south of Cedar Hollow Ranch in Leakey, Texas, roughly 100 miles from San Antonio.
Jones believes Gracie likely spent the past week tucked near a creek and pond, where she managed to get by on the thick brush in the area.
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Social media users were baffled about the giraffe’s disappearance considering its large size.
Reticulated giraffes can grow up to 16 feet tall, and weigh 2,600 pounds, according to the Denver Zoo. She is one of two giraffes on the property.
“Maybe it’s a short giraffe. I’m confused how you lose something that is 12 million feet tall,” one user said.
“How the hell do you lose a giraffe?” another user commented under a post about Gracie’s disappearance.
She disappeared while feeding on a hillside and wandering off through a gate.
Many other young male giraffes escaped through an open gate, but they returned on their own, Jones told the New York Times.
The owner explained that Gracie accidentally bypassed the enclosure after climbing a rocky slope to forage, inadvertently descending onto the wrong side of an open gate.
Securing the perimeter is uniquely challenging, as workers have to blast through solid stone just to anchor the fence posts.
While this is the first missing giraffe reported, Sheriff Johnson noted to News4 he has previously had reports of missing wildebeests, water buffalo, zebras, and monkeys in the area.
The Real County Sheriff’s Office could not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
