A pair of lacking child giraffes from a troubled roadside zoo has shrouded a Virginia city in thriller, landed the zookeeper in jail, and caught the eye of actress Alicia Silverstone — who’s providing a $50,000 reward for data resulting in their restoration.
The “Clueless” star introduced final week she was becoming a member of PETA to supply the hefty reward for ideas resulting in the return of the calves who vanished from Pure Bridge Zoo seven months in the past. The long-necked infants are believed to have been separated from their moms dangerously early.
“Tearing infants away from their distraught moms is devastating for each, it doesn’t matter what species they’re,” Silverstone stated in an announcement. “These lacking infants want specialised care, and day-after-day counts find them, so I hope somebody with details about their whereabouts will come ahead now.”
Her announcement comes after one of many homeowners of the zoo, Gretchen Mogensen, refused to say what occurred to the lacking giraffes — even beneath oath.
Mogensen is now serving a 100-day sentence at Rockbridge Regional Jail for refusing to adjust to a court docket order to both clarify what occurred to the lacking giraffes or hand them over to authorities, ABC 13 Information reported.
In September, prosecutors advised the decide presiding over the lacking calves case that Mogensen was accountable for the giraffes no matter whether or not or not they’d been moved out of the zoo, the outlet reported.
On the listening to, Mogensen’s attorneys stated that she couldn’t current a protection with out incriminating herself within the course of, because the legal investigation is ongoing.
The decide in the end dominated that the zookeeper had 5 weeks to both reveal the place the child giraffes had been or return them to the Lawyer Common’s Animal Legislation Unit, the native station reported.
That countdown ended on Oct. 29, and Mogensen turned herself in to authorities to start her sentence.
In the meantime, the calves are nonetheless nowhere to be discovered.
The scandal round Pure Bridge Zoo first started in December 2023, when officers with the ALU seized greater than 100 animals from the zoo as a part of a legal animal cruelty probe.
Twenty-eight of the animals had been both recovered deceased or humanely euthanized.
4 residing giraffes had been additionally included within the lineup, however they remained on the zoo as a result of it could be too tough to maneuver them.
Nonetheless, investigators commonly dropped by the zoo to make sure they had been being correctly cared for, together with the opposite 39 animals that remained on the property, WDBJ reported.
Someplace alongside the best way, although, the 2 feminine giraffes grew to become pregnant, and gave beginning by April 2025.
However when an investigator dropped by for an inspection that month, the newborns weren’t there, the outlet reported.
Seven months later, authorities are seemingly no nearer to discovering the lacking calves.
The case has drawn nationwide consideration from animal rights activists and teams, together with the three-time MTV Film Award winner.
Child giraffes usually depend on milk from their moms for 9 to 12 months after beginning.
They begin grazing, often on smaller items of vegetation like leaves, by the point they’re 4 months outdated, in line with the Giraffe Conservation Basis.
