Have You Seen Gracie? Texas Searches for Escaped Giraffe

(Real County, Texas) Forget 'Where's Waldo?' Forget 'Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?' In Central Texas, they're playing the new game 'Where's Gracie?'

'Where's Gracie?' is a real-life game of finding a young missing giraffe. Gracie is a three-and-a-half-year-old reticulated giraffe that unintentionally escaped a private ranch 90 miles northwest of San Antonio. Gracie escaped her enclosure at the vast Cedar Hollow Ranch and has been on the run for nearly two weeks now.

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How Gracie Escaped the Ranch

Gracie's owner, Vic Jones, and law enforcement have been looking for her after she wandered off the private reserve in remote Real County. According to Jones, Gracie wandered off after she was released into the canyon.

"She actually started going up and feeding in an area we'd never had giraffes feed in before. It's up on a rock slab, just a limestone slab. And he goes up the hill and goes up over the mountain" (Fox7)

Why Finding a Giraffe Isn't As Easy As It Sounds

Despite standing nearly as tall as the surrounding trees, Gracie has been surprisingly difficult to spot among the dense vegetation. Gracie has been spotted on game cameras in the area. However, by the time she is spotted on the cameras, the young giraffe has moved on to other feeding grounds.

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A $5,000 Reward Is Being Offered

There is currently a $5000.00 reward being offered for information leading to her safe return.

Concerns Grow for Gracie's Safety

Gracie is roaming the Texas Hill Country freely, but there is real concern for safety because there are natural predators in the area, including mountain lions and coyotes.  Jones believes that most other animals will simply be in awe of her and leave her alone. And the chances of her running into a human are very slim.

Drones and even helicopters have been deployed searching vast areas of Real and Uvalde County looking for Gracie. So far, she has eluded the search parties.

What To Do If You Spot Gracie

This July 4th, if you happen to be traveling through the Texas Hill Country and spot a giraffe's long neck and head poking through the top of the trees, give the Real County Sheriff's Office a call at 830.232.5201 or Vic Jones at 830.279.5822.

She will eventually be found. After all, it's not easy concealing a giraffe!