{"id":523667,"date":"2026-04-10T17:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/523667\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T17:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:05:09","slug":"challenging-search-continues-for-capybara-missing-from-hampshire-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/523667\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Challenging’ search continues for capybara missing from Hampshire zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The search for a capybara, missing from a Hampshire zoo for more than three weeks, has been described as “challenging” by keepers. <\/p>\n

Samba escaped from a temporary holding enclosure at Marwell Zoo near Winchester on Tuesday 17th March. <\/p>\n

Her sister, Tango, also ran off but keepers were quickly able to locate and re-capture her. <\/p>\n

The pair had recently arrived from Jimmy’s Farm & Wildlife Park in Suffolk.<\/p>\n

Since then, the team has used specialist tracking dogs, drones and camera traps to try and spot Samba but with no luck so far.<\/p>\n

Video footage of Samba resting on a bank of the River Itchen, near Winchester,<\/a> was shared two weeks ago by a dog walker.<\/p>\n

Keepers say the search is “challenging” due to the size of the area and Samba\u2019s natural instincts to stay hidden. <\/p>\n

A statement released by Marwell Zoo has assured people that they’re “not giving up” and “remain focused” on bringing Samba home. <\/p>\n

It said: “Since our last post, we\u2019ve received a number of reported sightings across the surrounding areas. <\/p>\n

“We\u2019re incredibly grateful to everyone who has taken the time to get in touch. Unfortunately, despite thorough follow-ups on these reports, none have resulted in a confirmed sighting of Samba.<\/p>\n

“Our teams remain fully committed and continue to carry out extensive searches both day and night. <\/p>\n

“We are still using specialist tracking dogs, thermal drone technology, and camera traps in key areas where Samba is most likely to travel, particularly along waterways and dense vegetation.”<\/p>\n

The zoo has thanked the public for their ongoing support as well as staff for “working tirelessly” to help look for the capybara. <\/p>\n

Anyone who thinks they might have seen Samba are being urged to take a photo and send it to 07436 167401, including the What3Words or Google Maps location. <\/p>\n

Reporting History sees journalists join News At Ten anchor Tom Bradby<\/a> to revisit their remarkable on-the-day reports of the defining events of the modern age. Listen to the episodes below… <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The search for a capybara, missing from a Hampshire zoo for more than three weeks, has been described…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-523667","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\/523667","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=523667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}