Macomb County (USA) - A man has driven around the US state of Michigan with a dead giraffe in the back of a pick-up truck. Footage published online has caused confusion - and led to a statement from the driver.

In a now-deleted post on Facebook, Nathan Schemansky asked, "Does anyone know anything about this? Is this even real?" He published footage that was apparently taken by a friend of his on his way home from work.

It shows a real-looking dead giraffe on the back of a Ford truck.

The post was shared in various groups, with some users expressing outrage in comments about the dead animal, which is not native to the USA. Had the poor giraffe been hunted and killed recently?

The outcry led to Darren Wehner, a taxidermist, setting the record straight and sharing photos of the work on the long-necked animal. He told Fox 2 that the animal had died of old age in a zoo on his truck bed.

He was commissioned by an unnamed museum to prepare the giraffe. "My job is to preserve it so that it can be admired forever. Some people may find it strange or different, but for me it's art," Wehner told the broadcaster. Nevertheless, the curious images of transportation through traffic remain in the memory.