LEAKEY – Gracie was spotted in the Hill Country by a helicopter crew at 7:30am in the morning.
The Real County Sheriff’s Office says she was hard to track down.
“We call her Gracie, and she’s on a fling and kind of has a ‘catch me if you can’ attitude,” said Sheriff Nathan Johnson.
Gracie, whose story captured the attention of the entire country, escaped from Cedar Hollow Ranch, a private ranch near Leakey, about two weeks ago.
Sheriff Nathan Johnson says despite her size, she was able to hide from initial searches.
“We got some deep canyons, and we have a lot of foliage, so even a big giraffe can be under an oak motte or in an area where there are a lot of pecan trees or something, and it would be hard to see her,” said Johnson.
Before finding Gracie, a trail camera southwest of Cedar Hollow Ranch tipped them off to her location.
The ranch hired Jeff Hill with Concho Aviation, who flew over the area with ranch manager Vick Jones.
“At 7:30am he said, ‘hey Vick, I got her. She’s right under us.’ And there she stood,” said Jones.
Jones says Gracie escaped the ranch by climbing a steep rock slab up a hill that wasn’t fenced off.
“Now that I know she can go up there and will go up there, that 200-foot stretch will have a fence put on it,” said Jones.
At the moment, Cedar Hollow Ranch is working with veterinarians to sedate and relocate her, and it could take until at least tomorrow for her to get home.
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