Father of toddler who was picked up by giraffe at wildlife center speaks about incident

By IE Staff

First published: 11:05 a.m. PDT, June 6, 2024

A giraffe in a wildlife center in Texas was filmed lifting a toddler out of a car by her shirt.

Shortly after the giraffe picked up two-year-old Paisley Toten, it dropped her back onto the bed of the pickup truck.

The incident occurred at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glenrose, Texas.

Visitors receive Eat to feed the animals, but the giraffe may have mistaken the young girl’s shirt for a bag of food, her father says. “The giraffe went for the bag, not her, but it ended up grabbing her shirt and lifting it up,” Jason Toten tells Inside Edition.

Other videos show visitors feeding the giraffes from cars and open-top tour buses. The park’s website states that riding in the back of a pickup truck is not permitted.

“My heart stopped and I felt sick. I was scared,” says Jason.

Ron Magil of Zoo Miami says most people have no need to be afraid of giraffes.

“This was not an aggressive gesture at all from this giraffe. It just wanted some food, but it got a little more in its mouth than it expected,” says Magil. “People should not be afraid of giraffes, they should be fascinated by giraffes. They are gentle animals.”

Paisley’s parents say the two-year-old was neither injured nor emotionally scarred by the incident. Afterwards, Paisley picked out a giraffe toy in the gift shop.

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