Telford zoo capybara finally captured after a week on the run and 'living her best life'

The one year old capybara, named Cinnamon, escaped from Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World in Telford on Saturday and was finally captured on Friday by a team of "over a dozen experts"

A capybara which escaped from a Shropshire zoo has been captured safe and well after spending nearly a week at large.

One-year-old Cinnamon escaped from Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World in Telford on Saturday and was found living in a field next to the zoo by a search team on Tuesday night. She was finally captured on Friday by a team of "over a dozen experts" in a pond within the zoo's woodland conservation area.

A video shared by the zoo on social media showed the fugitive rodent being hauled from the water in a metal cage. Cinnamon has since returned to an enclosure with her twin brother, Churro, and is acclimatising to life back in captivity.

Expert keepers will continue to monitor her around the clock to ensure a "seamless transition back to family life", the zoo said. The zoo also announced that Cinnamon will remain off show to the public this weekend as she re-familiarises herself with her usual surroundings.

Capybaras, which can grow to be 4.6ft long and up to 2ft high, are semi-aquatic and adapted for life in water. On Thursday, the zoo said attempts to capture Cinnamon had been paused so she did not become stressed.

Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World owner Will Dorrell said: "We're absolutely delighted to have Cinnamon back at the zoo. We've been astounded at the public reaction to Cinnamon's escape and are so grateful to everybody who has helped to return her safely to the zoo."

"Cinnamon will be spending some time with her brother in an off-show enclosure this weekend, but all being well we hope that Cinnamon will return to her usual paddock with the rest of her family next week."

Keepers were working through the night on Wednesday to try to catch her, but said the area where she was living was "extremely dense" with "almost impenetrable" undergrowth.

She was spotted by a thermal drone within five metres of the place she was seen on Tuesday night, and keepers found fresh tracks and capybara poo.

"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 added.

Mr Dorrell was previously asked how he believes Cinnamon was doing out of the zoo on her own, and he thought she's "probably living her best life".

He said: "The area, unfortunately for us, where the zoo is, there's lots of watercourses, lots of food, all the things that capybaras love to eat and they love to swim."

"They're relatively hardy animals, (we've got) absolutely no welfare concerns about her, she's going to be out there loving it, but we'd rather have her back so we can make sure she's ok."