Escaped capybara ‘probably living its best life’

The search for an escaped capybara that escaped from a zoo four days ago continues “around the clock”.

Cinnamon fled her habitat at Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World in Telford on Friday and entered the woods at the zoo.

The last sighting of her was on Saturday, after she managed to get beyond the perimeter fence.

The zoo’s owner, Will Dorrell, said he believes Cinnamon has reached the Humber Brook River, near the northern boundary of the attraction, where “he is probably living his best life.”

He said Cinnamon was not in imminent danger, but they wanted to know where she was so they could return her to the zoo and reunite her with her family.

“In front of us there are a lot of swamps and rivers, that’s why we strongly suspect that she is there,” he said.

“In the wild they are fantastic swimmers and will live on the banks of the river, then whenever they feel threatened they just run into the water and can stay there for hours at a time.”

“We are working around the clock at the moment to try and find her,” he said.

Capybaras are native to South America and are the largest living rodents in the world.

Cinnamon was born in the zoo with his brother Churro, and is now about a year old.

Mr Dorrell said the couple were “stuck” but Churro was doing well as his parents still live with them.

“But obviously it would be nice to get them together,” he said.

Cinnamon has not been seen since Saturday, when she was spotted on Humber Lane.

She was also spotted on Friday night via the zoo’s cameras and almost returned to her enclosure, but she wasn’t close enough for the keepers to do anything.

The public has been urged to report sightings to the zoo, but not to approach her for fear of spooking her and leading her on her way.

“She’s very very gentle, she’s not going to hurt anybody, she’s very likely to be shy,” Dorrell said.

“If it goes (much) longer, it is not in imminent danger. It can survive very comfortably in the climate, although they prefer a little warmer, and in the place there are loads of food and habitat.”

Mr Dorrell also thanked people for their support and said a volunteer brought a thermal drone on Tuesday to help with the search.

“Hopefully we can get some idea then,” he said.