Giraffe escapes circus, is killed in Italy 22 (UPI) -- A giraffe that escaped a circus in central Italy died after being tranquilized for recapture, officials said. The giraffe was loose in the town of Imola for several hours after it escaped Friday, Italy's ANSA news agency reported. Police cornered the more than 2,000-pound animal in a fenced parking lot of a grocery store and shot it with two tranquilizers. The giraffe died from cardiac arrest shortly after being returned to the Rinaldo Orfei Circus.