Dogs and drones used in hunt for racoons which escaped zoo on Isle of Wight

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A hunt using tracker dogs and drones has been launched to trace a group of raccoons which managed to break out of a zoo on the Isle of Wight.

The four animals escaped their compound at Amazon World Zoo Park in Sandown on Friday morning.

Staff are now appealing to locals to keep an eye out for the 18-month-old sisters, which only arrived at the zoo last month.

Supervisor Rowena Welsh said: “They are new here. Everyone is out searching and we have tracker dogs and drones looking for them.

“They are not dangerous and the protocol is for people to call us straight away and don’t try to approach because they would be very frightened.

“They are not dangerous and they would be more frightened of us than we would be of them.”

The four animals escaped their compound at Amazon World Zoo Park in Sandown on the Isle of Wight (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

One raccoon reportedly refused to leave the enclosure and stayed behind.

An Amazon World spokesperson wrote on Facebook: “Four female raccoons have escaped from their enclosure overnight.

“If you have a sighting please do not approach them, they are not normally aggressive but will be scared, please call us immediately on 0198386/122, message us on this page or email amazonworldrocketmail.com.

“If you live locally please check sheds and bonfire piles, they sleep during the day and become active at dusk.”

Amazon World Zoo Park is the largest collection of exotic animals on the Isle of Wight and is home to lemurs, squirrel monkeys and capybaras.

It came the week after two parrots went missing from London Zoo – but were found together 60 miles away after being spotted in a Cambridgeshire garden.

Critically endangered blue-throated macaws Lily and Margot flew away on 21 October while flying freely as part of their daily routine at the central London attraction.

Days later zookeepers were alerted to Cambridgeshire by a family in Buckden, who had spotted the sisters in the trees behind their garden.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/escaped-raccoons-isle-of-wight-zoo-amazon-world-sandown-b2639749.html