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Baby giraffe with mom in background
You might think it would be pretty hard to keep two giraffes in your possession without calling attention to yourself. However, authorities spent more than a year attempting to track down a couple that vanished from a zoo in Virginia before finally managing to find them this month.
Giraffes are firmly the tallest land animals in existence, as the mammals (which are native to close to two dozen countries in sub-Saharan Africa) can grow up to more than 18 feet while harnessing their height to snack on the trees responsible for a substantial portion of their diet.
They’re also taller than the average person when they enter the world, as baby giraffes are around six feet tall when they come out of the womb (before dropping the same distance to the ground after their mother gives birth).
That was the case with a couple of giraffe calves that were being raised at a zoo in Virginia before it was raided over concerns about the mistreatment of its animals, and they managed to go missing for more than a year while sparking a bizarre saga that has finally come to an end.
Officials in Virginia have recovered two giraffes that disappeared from a zoo that was raided in 2025
In 2023, close to 100 animals were seized from the Natural Bridge Zoo in the Virginia town that lends its name to the attraction due to alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act linked to improper care, nutrition, and shelter.
Some of those animals remained on the property as the investigation unfolded, including a couple of female giraffes that couldn’t be moved to another location because they were pregnant. However, things took a turn in April 2025 when officials who were conducting an inspection realized they had given birth but could not locate either of the calves.
Last October, Gretchen Mogensen, the zoo’s co-owner, was sentenced to 100 days in jail for refusing to reveal what had happened to the baby giraffes, and authorities continued to conduct a fruitless search that lasted over a year.
According to The Washington Post, it came to an end this week when the Virginia Attorney General’s office announced it had located the two animals.
They did not disclose where they were found (saying the discovery was the result of unspecified “legal action”), but they noted they were “safe” and being cared for after being relocated to the Georgia Safari Conservation Park, where they have been reunited with three giraffes (including their father) that formerly called the Natural Bridge Zoo home.
There are still plenty of questions that remain to be answered, but at least we got a happy ending.