Samba

 

Samba

                                Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Samba the capybara, who escaped from Marwell Zoo, is still at large, evading capture, and hopefully enjoying her freedom. She and her sister, Tango, both nine months old, were transported from a wildlife park in Suffolk. On March 17^th, the day after they arrived in Hampshire, they both escaped. Tango was caught very quickly, but Samba is proving elusive.

Capybaras are the world’s largest rodents, and are best seen as giant guinea pigs, sharing the same docility and lack of aggression as their much smaller cousins. Adults reach an average length of 1.4 metres and a weight of around 60 kg. They are native to South America, apart from Chile. They are mainly predated on by jaguars, cougars, caimans, and anacondas, none of which they will encounter in UK.

They are semi-aquatic, with webbed feet, and are excellent swimmers, able to swim underwater for minutes at a time. They mate only in water and a female not desirous of a male’s attention, will either leave the water or submerge herself. Presumably, the male would also be able to submerge, so I can’t see how that would help. Maybe they have to keep their heads above water as they copulate.

They can also run at speeds up to thirty-five kilometres per hour for short periods.

However, Samba is one on her own, relishing the peace and tranquillity of the Hampshire countryside. Her putative keepers have used drones, sniffer dogs, and thermal imaging to track her, with limited success. They have subsequently sought and gained permission to bait humane traps with melon and banana for this gentle herbivore, foods which are unlikely to attract badgers or other carnivores.

Local residents have been asked to check their garden ponds, as capybaras are attracted to water. The last time two capybaras escaped from Marwell, around thirty years ago, it was two months before they were captured. They were found in the same area that Samba is in now, near the river Itchen. Staff from the zoo are patrolling the riverbank, but are prepared for a long period of searching.

                                Capybara with young pups