Cinnamon the runaway capybara found in Telford pond
20 September 2024, 20:03
Cinnamon the runaway capybara has been found at last and returned to her home at a wildlife park.
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The adorable rodent escaped from her enclosure at Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World last Friday, promoting a frantic search around the nearby area.
But this afternoon, Cinnamon was found alive and well, relaxing in a pond at a nearby wildlife conservation area.
She has now been returned to her enclosure.
"We're absolutely delighted to have Cinnamon back at the zoo," owner Will Dorrell said.
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"I’d love to say it was nice and easy getting her out of the pond but it wasn’t. Several of us got very wet.”
He continued: “Cinnamon was quite happy in the pond so we had to get in with her and slowly try to coax her into the cage.
"I know that there will be lots of people who will be very excited to see her, but nobody more so than her own mum and dad."
Mr Dorrell’s team spent around an hour and a half attempting to get Cinnamon out of the pond.
Now she has been reunited with her twin brother Churo, the Zoo has said it will take some time to observe Cinnamon and help her slowly acclimate to her enclosure again.
"All being well, we hope that Cinnamon will return to her usual paddock with the rest of her family next week," Mr Dorrell added.
The search had been called off just hours before she was found amid fears she may have wandered into land owned by the Ministry of Defence.
Earlier this week, the zoo issued a thrilling update in their hunt for Cinnamon.
On Wednesday, the zoo issued an update saying the capybara was living in a field and section of woodland right next to the zoo - less than 200m from her 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).
"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.”
