Residents in a west-end Toronto neighbourhood are being asked to be on the lookout for two capybaras that went missing from the High Park Zoo on Tuesday.
Toronto police issued an advisory around 9 a.m. after the dog-sized animals escaped their pen during the transfer of a new capybara.
The animals, which resemble a giant hamster, can weigh between 77 to 145 pounds as fully grown adults and are the largest rodents in the world.
Parks, Forestry and Recreation Staff and high park zookeepers are working to catch and secure the animals, with 30 staff members currently looking and more on the way.
Authorities say the two creatures may still be on the park grounds.
The rodents are not considered dangerous but city spokesperson Lyne Kyle said they are “skittish” and people are advised to keep their distance.
The escape follows as similar incident almost exactly a year ago when a peacock escaped the same zoo and was on the run for five days before being captured.
The peacock became a Twitter parody shortly after flying off on May 29 and was spotted by numerous residents hopping from home to home and flying short distances.
And it didn’t take long for the pair of missing capybaras to get their own five minutes of fame on the social media site, with jokesters setting up not one but two fake accounts for them.
The Toronto Zoo, which has its own present-and-accounted-for capybaras, also got in on the fun.
Police are encouraging anyone who has spotted the animals to call 416-808-1100 or 3-1-1 and report the general area so staff can respond.
With a file from Will Campbell