Escaped Paignton Zoo horned goat-antelope back with herd

It is thought the goat-antelope was spooked by vets working with the tur herd

A horned goat-antelope which escaped from its enclosure at Paignton Zoo is back with its herd, staff say.

The young female West Caucasian tur was spooked while vets were working with the animals on Monday, the Devon zoo said.

The animal, which is a kind of mountain goat, was in woodland inside the perimeter of the zoo before managing to get into a neighbouring garden.

Staff said it was tranquilized with a dart and returned to its enclosure.

Police supervision

Zoo spokesman Phil Knowling said the zoo was told at about 16:30 GMT on Monday that the animal had got into one neighbouring garden and "sent staff up there right away".

He said: "Once the animal had left the zoo grounds, we had to wait for the police to come, as we aren't allowed to use our dart gun off-site without their supervision."

An in-house vet tranquilized the animal after police from Exeter arrived at the site.

The tur took flight, went through another garden and jumped back into the zoo grounds before succumbing to the tranquiliser.

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• Horned goat-antelope escapes enclosure

Vets and keepers were then able to return her safely to her paddock.

Mr Knowling said: "It is a shy and nervy animal. While it did end up in a neighbour's garden, we are all very glad it is now safe and well."

Another female tur - described as a "danger to the public" - escaped from the zoo last September, prompting a search by specialists and police.

The West Caucasian tur is found in the Caucasus Mountains range between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea and is listed as an endangered species.