{"id":775394,"date":"2026-09-19T03:52:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T03:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/775394\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T03:52:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T03:52:20","slug":"missing-capybara-samba-still-evading-capture-six-months-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/775394\/","title":{"rendered":"Missing capybara Samba still evading capture six months on"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  Samba, a one-year-old capybara from Marwell Zoo near <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyecho.co.uk\/news\/district\/winchester\/?ref=au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Winchester<\/a>, has been evading capture since March.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  She and her sister, Tango, escaped from the zoo on March 17 through a gap in a temporary enclosure.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  While Tango was quickly recaptured, Samba managed to stay out of the keepers&#8217; grasp.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Her story has attracted global attention and led to a wave of AI-generated memes featuring the adventurous rodent in various scenarios.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Despite extensive efforts, including the use of thermal-imaging drones, a specialist sniffer dog, and the expertise of the University of Southampton, Samba remains missing.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The last confirmed sighting was in mid-August when a member of the public managed to photograph her.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  A spokesperson for Marwell Zoo previously told the Daily Echo: &#8220;We can share with you that the teams are acting on a very promising lead following photographic evidence of Samba, which was sent in by a member of the public this week.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  She has been spotted in various locations, including near The Ship Inn in Owslebury and along the River Itchen, where she was seen sunbathing on a riverbank on March 22.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Capybaras are semi-aquatic animals, spending much of their time in and around water.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The species can reach running speeds of about 20mph and can hold their breath underwater for up to five minutes, making her a challenging target for search teams.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The search for Samba has also involved the local community, with people checking gardens, ponds, pools, and outbuildings.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Pupils at Twyford Primary School contributed to the search by writing poems, designing posters, and creating artwork.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Samba&#8217;s tale has reached far beyond Hampshire, with news outlets worldwide picking up the story of the runaway capybara.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The story has also sparked a trend on social media, with AI-generated memes of Samba in various scenarios.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Despite the widespread attention and numerous suspected sightings, Samba remains missing.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Marwell Zoo is still appealing for anyone who spots Samba to take a picture and share it, along with the exact location, to help with efforts to track her down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Samba, a one-year-old capybara from Marwell Zoo near Winchester, has been evading capture since March. She and her&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-775394","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\/775394","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=775394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}