A giraffe from ITV1's hit drama series Wild at Heart has been rescued after falling into a swimming pool on the set.
Giraffe Lucy, 9, broke on to the Leopard's Den set and the crew were forced to launch an all-night rescue operation to save the animal, which included calling the fire brigade, draining the pool and building steps out of sandbags.
Producer Adam Friedlander said: "We are not 100% sure how she fell into the pool but we think she may have been drinking from it and with her head being too low became disorientated and fell in.
"The animals on the reserve roam free and we are of course very mindful of their safety and try to interfere with their habitat as little as possible. However, accidents can happen and it appeared Lucy had managed to squeeze through the fence before falling into the pool."
Wild at Heart star Stephen Tompkinson added: "It was such a bizarre sight - as soon I walked round the corner all I could see was this great neck sticking out of the pool! She remained really calm throughout the whole thing and after draining the pool and digging a trench for her to walk up she emerged, allbeit awkwardly, out of the pool unharmed."
Lucy is currently 14 months pregnant with the offspring of late Wild at Heart animal star Hamley, who was tragically killed by lightning last year.
Wild at Heart returns to ITV1 in the New Year for a ten-part seventh series.
Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 1:03 pm