The country’s economy is in a tailspin following hyperinflation and draconian measures imposed by President Robert Mugabe to control it. At the same time, a rural drought has driven some wild animals to look for water and grazing in urban areas.

The giraffe that wandered into the Sese district in Harare attracted a large crowd, from curious children seeing a giraffe for the first time to those who saw the animal as dinner.

"We had to guard the animal until National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority officials arrived,” a police officer told The Herald, a Harare newspaper. “Some villagers wanted to slaughter it so we had to remain here until it was taken to a safe place."