'Waiting game' after capybara named Cinnamon that escaped Hoo Zoo avoids capture following thermal drone sighting

18 September 2024, 13:12 | Updated: 18 September 2024, 16:16

Zoo staff are playing a "waiting game" after a capybara that escaped from a zoo was located by a thermal-imaging drone during a night-time search - but managed to avoid capture.

One-year-old Cinnamon got out of her pen in Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World in Telford, Shropshire, on Friday and then fled the zoo on Saturday.

The zoo asked the public to report any sightings and said the giant rodent should not be approached.

Cinnamon has now been found in a field and section of woodland next to the zoo, but has managed to hide and has not so far been recaptured, the small family-run zoo said in a statement.

"Thanks to the tireless efforts of our team last night, along with a couple of local volunteers (including a thermal drone operator), we managed to locate Cinnamon," the zoo said in a statement.

"Despite efforts last night to recapture her, she managed to hide in dense thicket and the decision was made to place down live traps rather than attempt to catch her by hand and cause further stress (or drive her further away)."

A spokesperson for the zoo told Sky News they did not have a timeline on how long it might take to recapture Cinnamon and it was now "a waiting game".

"We're going to reassess the situation this evening when we locate her again," said Will Dorrell, a partner at the zoo.

"It may now be a waiting game. As long as we can monitor her whereabouts and ensure she's healthy there's no rush to catch and stress her.

"We'll likely have to take a passive approach such as laying live traps - cages with food in, that close after she enters - and monitoring with cameras."

Live traps cause no harm to the animal, the zoo said.

"Live traps are essentially cages with an automatic door that cause no harm to the animal - they simply walk in to some food and the door will close behind - we hope that these will allow us to recapture Cinnamon without any further stress," it said.

"We will be continuing to monitor the situation and conducting further searches."

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Giant rodent 'could become unpredictable if alarmed or cornered'

When Cinnamon first went missing the zoo said that "under no circumstances should a member of the public try to capture the animal by themselves", explaining that although capybaras are "generally friendly and inquisitive animals", Cinnamon "could become unpredictable if alarmed or cornered".

Capybaras are the largest rodents in the world and Cinnamon is roughly as big as a large spaniel.

The highly social animals typically live in groups of 10-20, usually near bodies of water in savannahs and dense forests.

(c) Sky News 2024: 'Waiting game' after capybara named Cinnamon that escaped Hoo Zoo avoids capture following thermal drone sighting