Baby giraffe escapes Indiana zoo enclosure, leads staff on wild chase

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Baby giraffe escapes zoo enclosure, runs wild in parking lot

Raw video: Workers attempt to catch giraffe that escaped its enclosure at Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.

A 7-month-old female giraffe at an Indiana zoo briefly escaped her enclosure on Monday.

Officials at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo said the giraffe, Thabisa, escaped from the African Journey exhibit.

The mischievous youngster never left the property, however. Zoo staffers were able to trap the giraffe in a fenced parking lot in a non-public area of the zoo, calming her down before returning her to the enclosure.

It took zookeepers a couple of hours before the 7-month-old giraffe was caught and taken back to her enclosure. (AP)

It’s currently unclear how Thabisa escaped, but the incident was the first of its kind at Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, according officials at the facility.

“As many of you may know, Thabisa decided to have a little adventure today,” the zoo said in a statement posted to Facebook. "Thanks for all of your concern, but after realizing our nonpublic parking lot near the giraffe barn wasn’t all that exciting, she decided to go back into the barn all on her own. She remained on zoo property for the duration of her adventure, and is now resting safely behind the scenes.”

“We will re-evaluate our giraffe exhibit and take extra precautions to ensure the continued safety of our animals and staff,” the statement continued.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.