Zany marriage proposal almost suffered a setback when a GIRAFFE tried to eat the ring in Milton Keynes

A doting boyfriend stuck his neck out to make the perfect proposal of marriage - in a GIRAFFE enclosure.
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Joel Warren, 26, took his animal-mad girlfriend Cassandra Findley for a fun day out at Woburn Safari Park on Sunday.

He treated her to a private VIP experience with the giraffes, her favourite animals, enabling her could get up close and feed them.

Little did Cassandra know that Joel had the ultimate surprise in store and had high hopes of making her his wife.

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Weeks ago he had secretly contacted the safari park, the scene of one of their very first dates, to enlist the help of the giraffe keepers.

As the keepers prepared a huge bunch of leaves and twigs for Cassandra to feed to the giraffes, Joel slipped one of them a shiny engagement ring.

Cassandra, who is 34, was so engrossed with viewing the park's breeding male Casper that she did not notice the keeper thread the ring onto one of the branches.

Joel then presented the giraffe snacks to Cassandra.

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He said: "Cass was busy feeding a giraffe and hadn’t noticed me standing nervously behind her with the ring tied to one of the branches. She turned to get more food and I handed her THE branch.

"I then got down on one knee and asked her to marry me."

Delighted Cassandra said an immediate yes. But then the plan almost suffered a catastrophic setback - when the hungry giraffe almost ATE the branch containing the ring.

"The giraffe was stillattempting to eat the branches that Cass had in her hand so we had to remove the ring pretty fast," said Joel.

With the ring safely on Cassandra's finger, the couple were free to celebrate during the rest of their tour round the park.

Joel said: “When I decided that I was going to propose to Cass I knew straight away where I wanted to do it, as one of our first dates together was spent at Woburn Safari Park.

"The proposal could not have gone any better. Right from the start I knew that I needed to book a VIP experience with the giraffes so I got in touch with the team at Woburn and they were fantastic - even if I did message them A LOT! There was no question too big or small."

Head of Reserves, Sonia Freeman said: “It’s always lovely when people get engaged at the park, and I’m happy that on this occasion we were able to help Joel out by involving Cassandra’s favourite animals, in the proposal.

"We were all in on the surprise, and it was clear that Cassandra didn’t expect a thing, which made it all the more exciting."