Horny giant rodent the size of a Labrador is on the loose in the British countryside after escaping its pen in search of a mate

A HORNY giant rodent the size of a Labrador is living wild in the British countryside after it escaped from its enclosure - to find a MATE.

The 18-month-old love struck capybara was last spotted near a stream, a staggering 13 miles away from owner Vernon Moore's home.

Mr Moore, 45, realised the bizarre animal was missing a month ago when it disappeared from its enclosure in Wymondham, near Melton Mowbray, Leics.

It is thought a territorial battle with its brother combined with the lust for love drove the male capybara, which is native to South America, to escape.

Mr Moore has been trying to lure the wayward creature into a cage baited with food but has had no success for the last month.

The managing director of Moores Estate Agents said: "He's absolutely harmless, he's just like an overgrown guinea pig.

"They come from the Amazon rainforest, they are quite secretive and only come out of the water at night to feed.

"He's been gone for about a month."

Mr Moore - who also keeps rare birds and ducks, birds of prey, wallabies and another large relative of the guinea pig called maras - got the two capybaras as babies.

He added: "As well as a bit of a territorial dispute with his brother now they're getting bigger, I think he may have got fed up and got out of the enclosure in search of a mate.

"I've been baiting a cage with food since I heard about where he'd been spotted.

"I'm hoping that now the crops have been harvested there will be less for him to eat and he'll be tempted by the bait.

"I've been asked why I don't dart him but he would probably drown as they spend most of their time in water.

"I'm hoping to recapture him within the next couple of weeks."

Shocked Ian McGlynn, 80, took a photo of the runaway capybara while he was out walking by a stream in Empingham, Rutland, on September 22.

Mr McGlynn, who lives in Bourne, Lincs, said: "It looked like a small sheep.

"At first I thought it was a coypu, another large rodent.

"I go out for a walk three or four times a week and I saw it just off a public footpath about midday.

"It just stayed there and didn't move as I took the photo.

"I was very interested to find out it was a capybara."

Mr Moore, who is licensed to keep his menagerie, said the RSPCA and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are aware and happy with his recapture plans.

He has also found a new home for the capybara at a farm park in Yorkshire when he is finally captured.

He added: "He'll be much happier there. He wants his own territory and female to live with and that's what he'll get.

"They have two females there and I'll get the other one for his brother, so there will be a bit of a breeding programme set up."

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