Mom Desperately Clings To Toddler As Giraffe Snatches Her From Truck At Drive-Thru Safari

You wouldn't think that a fun trip to a safari could nearly result in the abduction of one of your children, yet, shockingly, that's exactly what happened to a family in Texas.

The harrowing event was captured on camera by another visitor at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose. 

Two-year-old Paisley was there enjoying a day out with her family when the unexpected occurred.

The park is a sanctuary for a diverse range of animals, including everything from tortoises and tarantulas to wildebeest and cheetahs. 

Visitors have the option to explore the park by driving their own vehicles or by taking a guided tour in one of the park's vehicles.

During their 1.5-hour drive around the park, visitors can feed giraffes right from their cars.

Paisley was pulled up by her shirt. Lindsey Merriman via Storyful

It was during one of these feeding sessions that Paisley's family experienced a terrifying moment.

Jason Toten, Paisley's father, spoke to KWTX about the incident: "We stopped to feed the giraffes, and I turned around to look out the back window.

"I saw the giraffe kind of digging around right there, and then it just grabbed her, and I didn't see her no more."

In a video that has since been shared online, a hungry giraffe can be seen leaning over the car roof where two-year-old Paisley was.

Suddenly, the young girl is lifted from the vehicle by the huge animal as she tried to feed it.

Lindsey Merriman, another park visitor, witnessed the incident.

She said: "My daughter was recording a giraffe eating out of people's hands and dipping its head in sunroofs.

"We were three cars behind a red truck and saw the giraffe accidentally grab a little girl's shirt along with the food and lift her from the bed of the truck."

Fortunately, the giraffe did not succeed in fully removing Paisley from the vehicle and quickly dropped her back into her mother's arms.

Toten believes the giraffe was trying to grab the food from Paisley's hand but accidentally caught her shirt instead, leading to a frantic moment as the family tried to rescue her.

Paisley wasn't hurt in the incident. Lindsey Merriman via Storyful

When her mother shouted, "Hey!" the animal immediately let go of Paisley.

Thankfully, no one was hurt, and Paisley still enjoyed her day, even walking away with a new giraffe toy.

Social media reactions were mixed. 

One comment on Sierra's video read: "Please for the love of God, do not have any more children! Your level of stupidity is unbelievable!"

Another commenter noted: "Should not have been in bed of truck - I thought they were supposed to be inside the vehicle?"

A third added: "Why are you in the safari in the back of a vehicle, no roof or protection with wild animals roaming freely? Glad the kid is well, the giraffe must have eaten your brain". 

In response to the criticism, Sierra defended herself on Facebook: 

"Let me make something very clear. Anything can happen anytime and anywhere. Had we gone to the park that day instead (aka outside) she could have been bitten by a snake.

"Snakes are everywhere this time of year and yet no one would have called me a bad mom for taking my child to the park to play where there would potentially be snakes. 

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"Had I taken my daughter to another fun child establishment, on the way there we could have gotten in a wreck.

"No one would have called me a bad mom or ridiculed me for putting her in the car because we could have potentially wrecked."

"There are always dangers in the world, no matter where you go, or what you do. I refuse to teach my child to be afraid of her own shadow because she could possibly be hurt by something out of her control.

"I had personally never visited a safari so when I saw that you could ride in the bed of your truck, I assumed that it would be perfectly safe since the park allowed it."

Although giraffes are generally not aggressive and are the world's tallest mammals, females can sometimes be hostile when protecting their calves. 

Sierra added that she 'does not blame the park or the giraffe for what happened' and insists she will 'not shelter' her child from 'experiencing the world'. 

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She explained that growing up, she would always ride in the back of her family truck and insisted that 'so many others have done the same'.

Sierra concluded her post by saying: "At the end of the day, God knows the kind of parents we are. Your opinions have no relevance to us, but I pray y'all wake up and see that being bitter and scared of anything that could possibly hurt you is going to cause you to live a very boring life and you only have so many days on this earth.

"So God bless and I'll be praying y'all someday grow into decent humans who don't mom shame or belittle people to make you feel better about yourself."