Clueless star Alicia Silverstone is offering $50,000 reward to anyone who has information regarding the baby giraffes that went missing from a Virginia zoo earlier in 2025.
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In a November 2025 press release, animal rights advocacy organization PETA announced it had teamed up with Silverstone to investigate what happened to the baby giraffes. The animals were at Natural Bridge Zoo, but went missing in April 2025.
The zoo’s facility manager, Gretchen Mogensen, refused to disclose the baby giraffes’ location. She is serving 100 days in jail for failing to comply with a court order to disclose the animals’ whereabouts. She is expected to be released in February 2026.
“Tearing babies away from their distraught mothers is devastating for both, no matter what species they are,” Silverstone said. “These missing babies need specialized care, and every day counts in finding them.”
She then noted, “So I hope someone with information about their whereabouts will come forward now.”
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Virginia Office of the Attorney General’s Animal Law Unit. The phone number is 804-786-2071.
The Zoo Was Previously InvestigateddFor Animal Cruelty
PETA further pointed out that the disappearance of the baby giraffes is the latest disturbing development in an ongoing legal battle involving alleged animal neglect and abuse at the Natural Bridge Zoo.
In 2023, the attorney general’s office sent law enforcement to seize nearly 100 animals. The animals were discovered to be sick and denied veterinary care.
Dozens of dead animal bodies were also found at the roadside zoo.
“Two of the four giraffes who were seized (in place) by the state were pregnant,” PETA confirmed. “The attorney general’s office ordered the roadside zoo to notify them when the babies were born—but the facility’s operators failed to do so.”
PETA further claimed that Natural Bridge Zoo has a history of prematurely separating baby giraffes from their mothers. The zoo has shipped at least 14 baby giraffes out in the past decade, before the state’s investigation.
“Giraffe calves typically nurse for up to a year or longer and remain closely bonded with their mothers well beyond weaning,” PETA continued. “Relying on them for protection and vital early-life learning within their family herd.”
PETA added that the Natural Bridge Zoo’s exhibitor’s license has been suspended on multiple occasions. The roadside zoo has also been found to have numerous violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. This includes bludgeoning animals to death as a method of “euthanasia.” It then failed to provide animals with veterinary care, food, and water, and was unable to have direct control of an elephant.