The long-running question of what happened to two missing giraffe calves in Virginia now has an answer. More than a year after the babies disappeared from the embattled Natural Bridge Zoo, the Virginia attorney general’s office says the animals have been found through unspecified “legal action” and transferred to a specialized care facility, reports the Washington Post. Georgia Safari Conservation Park, outside Atlanta, confirmed it received two juvenile reticulated giraffes this week and says they’re settling in well.
The calves were born to adult giraffes that were seized amid animal-cruelty allegations against the roadside zoo, which has been under scrutiny for years over the treatment of its animals. Instead of revealing the babies’ location, second-generation owner Gretchen Mogensen chose to serve a 100-day jail sentence for contempt of court, per WDBJ. The case, which drew a $50,000 reward backed by PETA and actress Alicia Silverstone, unfolds alongside a raft of misdemeanor animal-cruelty and document-forgery charges against Mogensen family members and former staff. All three of the zoo’s surviving adult giraffes are already at the Georgia park. Another female, Valentine, died during transport last year. PETA says the calves endured “trauma of separation” but are “finally safe.”
