British zoo searching for escaped capybara

Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Officials from an English zoo are searching for a capybara that escaped from the facility and is believed to be camped out by a nearby brook.

The Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World in Telford said Monday that the capybara, named Cinnamon, escaped onto the zoo grounds Friday and was found to have gotten outside the perimeter fence Saturday when she was spotted on an area road.

"Despite searching throughout the night there were no sightings of Cinnamon," the zoo said in a Tuesday morning update. "However, we have received some very useful information from local residents and now believe that Cinnamon is likely living in and around the Humber Brook on our northern border."

Officials said a thermal drone would be joining in the search Tuesday and keepers from the nearby Exotic Zoo have offered to assist.

Capybaras, native to South America, are the world's largest living rodents.

"Cinnamon is very timid and any attempt to capture her by untrained individuals could result in driving her further away from her home -- which we want to avoid," the zoo said.