Escaped capybara Samba filmed on camera after seven months at large

Mixed · 2Samba, a capybara that escaped from Marwell Zoo in Hampshire, has been photographed on wildlife cameras more than six months after she got out, the zoo said in a statement on Tuesday 27 October. 1 2 Mixed · 2Samba and her sister Tango vanished from their enclosure on 17 March while being moved to temporary accommodation. The two had come to the zoo from Jimmy's Farm and Wildlife Park. 1 2 Mixed · 2Tango was found soon afterwards, but Samba stayed at large despite a search that Metro says included thermal drones and sniffer dogs. 1 2

Right · 1The zoo said it had confirmed new photographic evidence of her whereabouts in August. It has since installed more wildlife cameras, which produced further images, and has set up a feeding area to encourage her to return regularly. 1 Mixed · 2The zoo said recovering her is a gradual process. It knows the area she is in, but it said approaching her could frighten her into moving away and make recovery harder. She is on private land, and the zoo is keeping her exact location confidential. 2 1 Left · 1The last public sighting described by Metro was in March, when dog walker Claudie Paddick saw her resting on the bank of the River Itchen. Samba jumped into the river and swam away, and Paddick sent a photo to a neighbour, who called the zoo. 2

Right · 1The Daily Mail adds that, according to animal experts, a capybara could survive in the UK because of plentiful riverbank plants and no natural predators. It names traffic and winter freezing as the main risks, and says solitary capybaras can be prone to stress, since the species normally lives in groups of 20 to 100. 1 Right · 1The zoo said it will share further news when there is a significant update. 1