Giraffe lifts toddler during feeding mishap at Texas safari park

GLEN ROSE, Texas (TND) — A 2-year-old visiting a drive-thru safari in Texas with her family got too close of an encounter while trying to feed a giraffe.

Paisley Toten was in the back of a pickup truck feeding animals at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center on Saturday when a giraffe went to grab a bag of food and accidentally got ahold of the child's shirt before briefly lifting her into the air, KWTX reported.

“We stopped to feed the giraffes and I turned around to look out the back window, and I saw the giraffe kind of digging around right there, and then it just grabbed her and I didn’t see her no more,” her father, Jason Toten, told the outlet.

Luckily, her mom was right there to catch her when the giraffe eventually let go.

"My heart stopped, my stomach dropped it scared me," Toten said.

After the frightening experience, Paisley visited the gift shop and got a toy giraffe because she "deserved it," her father told KWTX.

In response to the incident, Fossil Rim updated its rules and visitors are now required to stay in their vehicle with the doors closed at all times.

The new rules state:

"For visitor safety, all tailgates, van/car doors, and hatchbacks must be closed at all times and you must be seated within the vehicle – no sitting on window ledges or on top of the vehicle. Vehicles with “soft doors,” "tube doors," or doors removed, such as Jeeps, will not be allowed to enter the park. Effective June 6th, 2024, guests are no longer permitted to ride in the bed of pickup trucks."