School pupils join hunt for runaway capybara

An escaped capybara has sparked a burst of creativity from children who have been writing poems, designing posters and making artwork as they join the ongoing search.

Nine-month-old Samba escaped from Marwell Zoo, near Winchester, earlier this month.

Some pupils at Twyford Primary School, close to where Samba has been spotted, have been heading to the River Itchen with their families in efforts to find her.

Head teacher Neil Tunnicliffe said the story had "really captured the imagination" of the children.

"The children have been very excited," he said.

"Some of them have been down the Itchen looking for the capybara, and there was a lot of hope it might turn up close to the school.

"We've had some children make missing posters, and some have even used it for their homework and written poems about Samba."

One pupil, nine-year-old Rupert, wrote a poem about the escape, which included the lines: "[Samba] was seen by the Itchen, eating a chocolate bar. Someone said she'd been in their kitchen, trying to play the guitar."

Samba escaped from a temporary enclosure at Marwell Zoo a day after arriving from Suffolk with another capybara, Tango, who was quickly found nearby.

She has since been spotted several times in surrounding villages, including Owslebury and near the River Itchen at Twyford.

Zoo teams are continuing to search the area and have urged the public not to approach the animal, asking for sightings to be reported with photos or video.

Capybaras, the world's largest rodents, are semi‑aquatic mammals native to South America that are often described as looking like oversized guinea pigs.

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