Hunt for Telford capybara 'paused' as runaway rodent continues to evade attempts to recapture her

Cinnamon made her break for freedom last Friday after slipping out of her enclosure at Hoo Zoo, and hadn't been seen since Saturday evening.

Searches were conducted in the area, and on Tuesday night, the renegade rodent was spotted by a drone – just 200 yards from where she escaped.

But attempts to recapture her are being foiled by dense undergrowth, the zoo has said, and efforts have now been paused.

In an update, Hoo Zoo said keepers were again trying to find her on Wednesday night.

The zoo said: “She was spotted again by a thermal drone within five metres of the same location from Tuesday night.

“Unfortunately this area is extremely dense with almost impenetrable undergrowth that Cinnamon can easily move under but we cannot.

“During our searches we found plenty of fresh tracks and capybara poo and it looks like Cinnamon is extremely comfortable and happy in that area.

“Due to this we've taken the decision to pause recapture efforts for the time being and will resume on Friday night.

“We have been in lengthy discussions with wildlife capture professionals and all of us are concerned that continued disturbance of where Cinnamon is living could cause her to relocate to an area that could be dangerous. We are also bordered by the MOD and there are concerns that if she moves into that area we may not be able to retrieve her.

“At present she is comfortable, content, not short on food and not at risk to predators so it's better that we take our time and recapture Cinnamon with the least amount of stress possible. We have placed multiple live traps in that area and will be checking these multiple times a day but won't be conducting any further mass searches until Friday night unless the situation changes.

“Finally we'd like to thank everyone for their continued support. We are really touched and overwhelmed that Cinnamon has captured the hearts of so many people from all around the world. We know that everyone wants a quick resolution to this but we are sure you can all agree that it's more important that we recapture Cinnamon with as little stress as possible and ensure she stays happy and healthy."