{"id":495783,"date":"2026-03-26T04:37:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T04:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/495783\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T04:37:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T04:37:06","slug":"search-for-marwell-zoos-missing-capybara-continues-as-more-sightings-reported","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/495783\/","title":{"rendered":"Search for Marwell Zoo&#8217;s missing capybara continues as more sightings reported"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Search efforts for a missing capybara in Hampshire are continuing as further sightings of the fugitive rodent have been reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Samba, the capybara, has been <a class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" data-testid=\"next-link-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/meridian\/2026-03-19\/marwell-zoo-asks-public-for-help-to-find-escaped-capybara\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">missing since Monday<\/a> (March 16) when she and her sister, Tango, escaped from a temporary holding enclosure at <a class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" data-testid=\"next-link-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/topic\/marwell-zoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Marwell Zoo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Tango was swiftly re-captured within the zoo grounds, but her sister remains on the run.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">A spokesperson for Marwell, in an update shared on Wednesday, said that search teams were continuing to monitor the waterways around the area where sightings of Samba have been reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">They added that one new sighting of the capybara in an area similar to those previously reported had been registered on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Video footage of Samba <a class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" data-testid=\"next-link-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/meridian\/2026-03-22\/search-narrowed-for-fugitive-capybara-as-zoo-deploys-specialist-dog-teams\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">resting on a bank of the River Itchen<\/a>, near Winchester, was shared earlier this week by a dog walker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Subscribe for free to<a class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" href=\"https:\/\/itvnews.substack.com\/\" data-testid=\"fecp-link-anchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> our weekly newsletter <\/a>for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning. <\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The spokesperson added that additional camera traps had been laid down and thermal drones were continuing to be used in the search for Samba.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">&#8220;We do believe she is still in the same area, but that area is large with a lot of water so she could be tucked into a riverbed and not easily visible,&#8221; the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">They added that the zoo has received &#8220;relevant permissions&#8221; to deploy humane traps, which use melon to tempt Samba out of hiding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Capybaras are intelligent, gentle animals, which do not pose a risk to the public, according to the zoo, but anyone who spots Samba is strongly advised to not approach or try to capture her by themselves to avoid causing any distress.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Instead, sightings of Samba should be reported at the earliest opportunity using the hotline 07436 167401.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Photos or videos of Samba can also be shared via the same contact number. Anyone doing this is asked to include an exact location.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Reporting History sees journalists join News At Ten anchor Tom Bradby to revisit their remarkable on-the-day reports of the defining events of the modern age. Listen to the episodes below&#8230; <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Search efforts for a missing capybara in Hampshire are continuing as further sightings of the fugitive rodent have&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-495783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}