A giraffe feeding experience at a Texas wildlife center turned frightening last week when one of the animals hoisted a toddler out of the bed of the pickup she was driving.
Video shared with NBC News by Jason Toten, the toddler’s father, shows his daughter, dressed in pigtails and a pink shirt, reaching into the back of a truck in an attempt to feed a giraffe during their tour.
The giraffe pushes its head against the girl and comes closer as she moves further into the bed of the truck. The video then appears to show the animal grabbing the girl and lifting her into the air.
A woman can be heard screaming in the background.
In a statement, Warren Lewis, chief marketing officer at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, said the center was notified on Monday of an “incident involving one of our giraffes” last weekend.
Lewis said nothing like the incident had ever happened at Fossil Rim, but that “immediate action is being taken to ensure it does not happen again.”
That includes a new rule banning visitors from riding around the park in truck beds.
Toten said he and his family are “saddened” to hear that visitors will no longer be allowed to ride in the back of trucks, but that his family will definitely visit the park again. He added that it is a “great place to go,” especially for children who love animals.
“It was an accident and the giraffe didn’t mean to do that. It was just one of those things that happened,” Toten said.
“We are not angry with the giraffe. We are not angry with the park,” he added.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
