One of Jersey Zoo’s newest arrivals wasted no time making an impression, with Tango the capybara delaying opening hours this morning after staging a short-lived escape from his enclosure…
The animal, a recent arrival from a Zoo in East Sussex to join sisters Tayto and Tatti who arrived in February, was “quickly located within the zoo grounds” and safely returned to his enclosure by the mammal team, a spokesperson said.
“The zoo opened at approximately 11.30 and the team at Durrell would like to thank visitors and members for their patience this morning,” they added.
“The escapee was our new arrival, Tango, who recently joined us from Drusillas Zoo. We will share more updates soon, but he is currently completing his quarantine period.”
The escape followed an announcement earlier in the day that the zoo was “temporarily closed this morning due to unforeseen circumstances.”
This is not the first time an animal has escaped from Jersey Zoo.
In 2022, several ring-tailed lemurs got out of their enclosure and were seen exploring neighbouring gardens Trinity before being safely recovered.
Jersey Zoo has not confirmed how Tango the capybara escaped this morning.
Did you know?
The attempted great escape comes just two days after ‘World Capybara Appreciation Day’, which falls each year on 10 July.
Capybaras are the world’s largest rodent species and are native to South America.
The semi-aquatic species, whose latin name translates to ‘water pig’, can weigh more than 60kg.