A capybara that has been on the run since Tuesday after escaping from a zoo has been seen resting in the sunshine at the side of a river.
Nine-month-old Samba slipped through a small gap in a temporary enclosure at Marwell Zoo, near Winchester, a day after arriving from Suffolk.
People living nearby have been checking gardens, ponds, pools and outbuildings after reported sightings of the animal.
On Sunday, Claudie Paddick spotted the capybara by the side of the River Itchen, near Winchester, before it was spooked by her dog, jumped in the water and swam off.
Claudie said she had updated Marwell Zoo, which was sending teams down to the area.
In an update on Saturday, the zoo thanked everyone for their support and said its search for Samba had continued with the help of a specialist dog unit, which had been following her scent.
It added: “This has led us to a reduced search area, not far from where she was originally sighted, which has meant we could better deploy thermal drones to try and locate her.”
It said the team remained “determined to do everything we can to bring Samba home safely”.
