After escaping from a zoo in the United Kingdom, a capybara named Cinnamon is out there living her best life. Zoo officials finally spotted the large rodent on Wednesday. It's the first time anyone has seen her since September 15.
The capybara was out frolicking in the fields and having a good time. Zoo officials spotted Cinnamon using a drone.
"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. It turns out that she is currently living in a field and section of woodland right next to the zoo," the zoo wrote on Facebook. Cinnamon was less than 656 feet from the zoo. But the capybara evaded capture refusing to go home.
"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)," the zoo said. The traps are "essentially cages with an automatic door that cause no harm to the animal."
They hope the traps will "allow us to recapture Cinnamon without any further stress." However, the zoo stressed that Cinnamon isn't in any danger. The capybara has plenty of food out there.
Capybara Planned Master Escape
"If it goes on [much] longer, she's not at imminent risk," zoo owner Will Dorrell told BBC . "She can very comfortably survive the weather, even though they prefer it a bit warmer, and locally, there's loads of food and habitat."
He said the animal is living her best life. The capybara escaped after zookeepers entered her enclosure to mow the grass. Apparently she was hiding.
"Our two young capybara here are always trying to work out a different way of trying to cause us headaches," Dorrell told BBC. "They're extremely intelligent, which a lot of people might not necessarily appreciate."
He said that Cinnamon planned the escape.
"She got out, unfortunately, because while the gate was opened while they took a tractor mower in there, she managed to slip around the side of the tractor mower and get out from the open gate, which has never previously been an issue in over 10 years," Dorrell told The Guardian.
"But we're now reviewing to make sure that it can't happen again. So, going forward, there'll be another gate in, something like a double gate, and it'll be a two-person job as well to stop this from happening," he added.
