A racoon has found its way back to an East Sussex zoo after escaping three weeks ago.
Bandit the racoon fled from Drusillas Park on Friday, 26 April with her sister, who was later discovered at the Go Wild! adventure play area with no sight of Bandit.
Zoo staff continued to look for the missing racoon but during a routine evening check they found the animal had somehow found her way back into the enclosure with her family.
A missing racoon has been found safe and well at Drusillas Park thanks to the swift actions of two school girls.
Sasha Rodger and Daphne Lock discovered Turpin the racoon after he went missing two days ago.
Sasha and Daphne notified the zoo staff who were able to recover fury fugitive.
The girls were enjoying an impromptu visit to Drusillas as their school was closed due to polling.
Zoo Manager, Sue Woodgate commented: “We are very grateful to Sasha and Daphnefor finding her.”
But the zoo is still looking for Bandit the racoon who went missing at the same time.
Staff at Drusillas Park in East Sussex are hunting for two racoons that have escaped from their enclosure.
Two of the four resident racoons were discovered missing during early morning checks.
The racoons named Turpin and Bandit had moved to a shared enclosure at the beginning of March. It's thought they might have been scared by a loud noise and fled over an electric fence.
Zoo Manager, Sue Woodgate, said: “Incidents of this nature happen very rarely at the zoo but when they do, it is clearly a worrying time. The keepers have been scouring the park and surrounding area but we are appealing to the public to be vigilant too."
Staff at Drusilla's Park in Sussex have begun their annual counting of all the animals in their care.
The 'stock taking' is one of the biggest jobs in the zoo's calendar and ensures that all the park's records are up to date.
New births at the site over the past year have included a baby black lemur, penguins, a colobus monkey, fennec foxes, squirrel monkeys, prairie dogs, a flamingo chick, tamarins and marmosets.
A baby short-clawed otter born at Drusilla's Park has ventured into the limelight for the first time.
The Asian short clawed otter has been spotted outside his nesting box in East Sussex after being closely guarded by his parents since he was born on 18th August.
Unlike many species of otter, Asian short-clawed otters are very social and like to live in large family groups. They are monogamous, staying with the same partner throughout their life.
Asian short-clawed otters are the smallest of the world’s thirteen different otter species, measuring just 65cm from head to tail when fully grown.
As their name suggests, they are native to Asia, where populations are declining due to hunting, habitat destruction and water pollution and they are now considered a vulnerable species in the wild.
Staff at a zoo in Sussex have gone to great lengths over recent months to encourage their Chilean flamingos to breed - with success.
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Five rare penguin chicks have hatched at Drusillas Park in Sussex, and are making egg-cellent progress according to keepers.
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