3-year-old giraffe sneaks out of enclosure for a snack, AZ zoo says. ‘Little stinker’
_fitted.png "An Arizona zoo has to modify its giraffe enclosure after one animal got out.")
A 3-year-old giraffe snuck out of her enclosure at an Arizona zoo and was found snacking on a nearby tree, officials said.
Msituni was found just before 9 a.m. March 5, the Reid Park Zoo said in a Facebook post.
She is an adult reticulated giraffe that joined the Tucson zoo last month, zoo officials said in a Feb. 19 news release.
It didn’t take long for the young animal to get into “trouble.”
She escaped her enclosure and was found munching on a mesquite tree nearby, the zoo said.
The zoo said she was “calm” and “stayed in one place” until she eventually wandered back into her enclosure.
The fiasco happened before the zoo opened, so officials said it “initiated emergency response protocol” and kept the zoo from opening for about an hour and a half.
Now the zoo has plans to make long-term modifications to keep her from escaping again.
“I hope it was glorious while it lasted, Msituni!” one person commented on Facebook.
“Little stinker she is lol glad she is ok and safe,” another person wrote.
“I have two toddlers, so I totally get it,” someone else said.
Although Msituni is 3 years old, she’s technically an adult, the zoo said.
A female reticulated giraffe reaches sexual maturity at about 3 to 4 years of age, the Philadelphia Zoo said.
Tucson is about a 115-mile drive southeast from Phoenix.
