NEW YORK – When news emerged in June that a giraffe had escaped a private game reserve in the US and was on the loose in Texas’ Hill Country, there were jokes, photoshops and memes.

But there was also concern. How would the giraffe, named Gracie, fare unsupervised? As roughly two weeks passed without verified sightings, that concerned deepened.

Good news finally came on June 26: Gracie was spotted alive just 6.5km from the ranch. Plans are now underway to try to bring her back home.

The breakthrough happened early morning on June 26 after Vick Jones, the ranch’s manager, got in a helicopter to search for Gracie in some new areas where the landowners had recently given him permission to check their property.

After about 45 minutes, Jones said in an interview on June 26, the pilot turned to him and said, “Hey Vick, I got her.”

“She looked good; she’s in good shape,” Jones said.

He said they had spotted Gracie in an uninhabited area with no public access.

Now a veterinarian will assemble a team to bring Gracie back to the ranch.

“We’ll go in, and she’ll be immobilised and put into a special trailer,” he said. The veterinarian had experience moving such animals, including bringing Gracie to the ranch for the first time in May. “I have great confidence in it,” Jones said.

Gracie arrived in May at Cedar Hollow Ranch, a privately owned exotic animals facility in Leakey, Texas, about 160km west of San Antonio.

She is estimated to be about 3 1/2 to 4 years old, according to Jones, and is reticulated giraffe, a breed known for its smooth, clean coat pattern of blocklike spots.

Gracie escaped after walking to a corner of the property to reach up and eat from tree limbs, Jones said previously. She came down on the wrong side of a gate and wandered off.

That led people to begin populating social media with altered images of the giraffe engaging in typical Texan activities, like driving a stock car or visiting general store Buc-ee’s.

Sheriff Nathan Johnson of Real County told CBS Austin that Gracie had been found “fat and happy”.

“She had a catch-me-if-you-can-sucker’s attitude,” he said. NYTIMES

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Giraffe named Gracie found ‘fat and happy’ 2 weeks after escaping ranch