The search for a giraffe who absconded from a private game ranch in rural Texas and effectively went missing for nearly two weeks was found safe on Friday just a few miles away from the homestead, according to authorities.
An aerial search ultimately pinpointed the whereabouts of Gracie “the w[a]ndering giraffe”, said Nathan Johnson, the Real county sheriff, in a Facebook post announcing the success of efforts to find the creature.
Johnson’s post punctuated a saga that began on 12 June when Gracie wandered out of her enclosure at the Cedar Hollow Ranch in Leakey, a town of about 700 residents that is a two-hour drive west of San Antonio.
News of a reticulated giraffe that is native to several countries in eastern Africa managing to somehow vanish in the Texas hill country region spread wide and far on the internet. And Johnson’s office appealed in a news release for citizens to keep their eye out for Gracie, going so far as to list her distinguishing features lest anyone confuse her with any other animals in the area.
Vick Jones, the Cedar Hollow Ranch manager, put up a $5,000 reward for information reuniting the site with Gracie – and he hired helicopters as well as drones to aid search efforts for the giraffe, San Antonio’s CBS News affiliate KENS reported.
Searchers’ hopes were falsely raised late on Tuesday when, as the Guardian reported, the website for San Antonio’s NBC affiliate WOAI published a story that Gracie had been found safe.
But Johnson subsequently said that report was inaccurate. “The giraffe has not been located,” Johnson said. “It’s still at large.”
The local station then backed away from the inaccurate story, saying the original report “couldn’t be confirmed”. Johnson blamed the confusion over Gracie’s whereabouts at the time on misinformation sowed by “idiots in their pajamas in their mother’s basement on the internet with nothing else to do”.
It was shortly before 10 on Friday morning in Leakey when Johnson published a genuine post informing his community that aerial search efforts from Jones and Jeff Hill of Concho Aviation had paid off by finding Gracie.
The giraffe was about four miles (6.4km) to the south of Cedar Hollow Ranch, said Johnson, who attached overhead pictures of Gracie nestled among some shrubs on spartan terrain.
“Mr Jones has contacted his veterinarian and is putting a team together to safely capture Gracie and bring her home,” Johnson’s post said.
According to the outlet, Johnson told WOAI that Gracie was “fat and happy” when found and had a “catch me if you can, suckers,” attitude.