Watch: Giraffe freed after dramatic roadside rescue outside Bisley Nature Reserve

Motorists on the R56 were met with an unusual sight at sunrise on Tuesday, when a male giraffe was lying against a tree with its hind leg trapped outside the Bisley Nature Reserve’s perimeter fence.

The Witness reports that a call for help came in shortly before 06:00, reporting that a male giraffe had become stuck on the R56 Richmond Road in Pietermaritzburg, outside the reserve’s boundary fence.

According to Friends of Bisley Nature Reserve chairperson Peter West, the giraffe was involved in a fierce fight with another male shortly before it fell.

“Two males had been fighting near a steep slope, and one knocked the other down, causing him to roll down the hill,” he says.

“He snapped the fence, flattened it and rolled over into a tree where his leg became trapped in the fork.”

West says the second giraffe had pushed through the broken fence and stood guard over its rival; a behaviour typical of male dominance fights, where one prevents the other from standing up again.

Community responds

Members of Remington Risk Management were first on the scene, monitoring the giraffe and keeping motorists at a safe distance.

West then sent a message to a local security group requesting additional assistance. Within minutes, volunteers from several private security companies arrived and began managing traffic along the busy morning route.

The second giraffe was carefully coerced toward the Gladys Manzi Road entrance of the reserve, where a hole was cut in the fence to herd him safely back inside.

Meanwhile, the trapped giraffe remained wedged in the tree, kicking intermittently as it struggled.

With the veterinarian stuck in peak-hour traffic along Market Road, responders faced a difficult decision – wait and risk the animal injuring itself further, or act.

A battery-powered chainsaw was urgently fetched to attempt to cut the branch and free the animal to avoid euthanasia.

But before the chainsaw could be used, the giraffe made one powerful kick.

“Tony Stella had gone to fetch the chainsaw, and while he was away, the giraffe gave a mighty kick and broke the branch,” says West.

“At first, I thought it had broken its leg. It lay there for a while before finally getting up.”

The now-freed giraffe walked onto the road, prompting responders to immediately block traffic from both directions.

Stella and the Remington team then cut more of the fallen tree to clear the area, and, against all odds, the giraffe calmly walked back through the gap in the fence and into the reserve.

“In my experience, getting a giraffe back in through the same place it came out is almost impossible,” West says. “But this one behaved like a baby and walked straight through.”

He says they will now focus on repairing the damaged fence to prevent future incidents.

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