Watch: Giraffe stumbles, crashes onto car windshield at Texas wildlife center

Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY
·2 min read

A family's outing to a wildlife center in Glen Rose, Texas came to a screeching halt last week when a giraffe slipped and fell onto their car's windshield, smashing it in the process.

Kari Hill was visiting the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center on Thursday with her teenage sons and infant granddaughter when the accident happened, FOX4NEWS reported.

Hill told the local news outlet that as they were touring the center, they stopped at the giraffe enclosure where a giraffe came and stuck his head in the sunroof as they fed him.

"We were laughing and loving it, until all of a sudden the giraffe appeared to lose his footing and fell onto the windshield of the car, and in the sunroof," Hill told Fox News. "Glass shot everywhere, all over us."

The visitor said that the entire family was covered in glass when the giraffe fell, and she feared that things were about to turn worse when the giraffe thankfully regained his footing and took off.

Hill quickly alerted the park's emergency hotline about the incident and pulled off to ensure that the children got the glass off them.

"What turned into a great family day, just cost me a huge car repair, and PTSD for us," Hill told Fox News.

However, she was grateful that things did not turn tragic.

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Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is non-profit that specializes in captive breeding programs for indigenous and exotic endangered and threatened species. Guests can go on self-guided tours to see and feed some of the animals. However, visitors can only feed giraffes by hand. For other animals, the center recommends simply tossing the pellets onto the ground.

The Center did not respond to USA TODAY's request for a comment and update on the giraffe or the visitors. However, they told Fox News that the giraffe was not injured in the accident.

Glen Rose is approximately 85 miles southwest of Dallas.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video: Giraffe falls, smashes car windshield at Texas wildlife center