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Giraffe stock photo
After two baby giraffes vanished earlier this year from the Natural Bridge Zoo in Virginia, their disappearance has sparked a search—and now caught the attention of Hollywood animal advocate Alicia Silverstone.
The roadside zoo is located in Natural Bridge, Va., about three hours southwest of Alexandria.
Silverstone, a bestselling author, actor and longtime PETA supporter, is offering up to $50,000 for information leading to the calves’ location. The zoo’s manager, Gretchen Mogensen, recently chose to serve 100 days in jail rather than comply with a court order requiring her to disclose where the young giraffes were taken.
Authorities believe the calves were removed from their mothers shortly after birth. A judge and jury had previously found the adult giraffes were cruelly treated, awarding custody of them to the state. Anyone with information on the calves’ whereabouts is urged to contact the Virginia Office of the Attorney General’s Animal Law Unit at (804) 786-2071.
“Tearing babies away from their distraught mothers is devastating for both, no matter the species,” Silverstone said. “These missing babies need specialized care, and every day counts in finding them. I hope someone with information will come forward now.”
State inspectors discovered the calves missing in April, marking the latest troubling turn in a years-long legal saga involving alleged neglect and abuse at the roadside zoo.
In 2023, investigators with the attorney general’s office executed a search warrant at the facility and seized nearly 100 animals. They reported finding animals living in filthy conditions, sick animals denied veterinary treatment, and numerous dead animal bodies and parts—including giraffe legs, a head, skin, tails, and even frozen bags of giraffe feces.
Two of the four giraffes that remained under state custody were pregnant at the time. Officials ordered the zoo to notify them when the calves were born, but operators failed to do so. Public records also show that the zoo has a long history of prematurely separating giraffe calves from their mothers, having shipped out at least 14 baby giraffes in the decade before the state’s intervention. In nature, giraffe calves nurse for up to a year or more and remain closely bonded with their mothers well beyond weaning.
PETA notes that the Mogensen family’s exhibitor license for the Natural Bridge Zoo has been suspended at least three times and that the facility has accumulated numerous federal Animal Welfare Act violations. These include bludgeoning animals to death as a form of “euthanasia,” failing to provide adequate veterinary care, food, and water and failing to maintain direct control of an elephant.
A grand jury impaneled in Rockbridge County is currently conducting a criminal investigation into the fate of the baby giraffes, along with allegations of animal abuse at the zoo.
