Escapee ibis captured with seafood treats

A RARE bird has been returned to its home at Edinburgh Zoo after evading keepers for almost a week.

The scarlet ibis escaped from its enclosure last Tuesday and its bright red plumage has been spotted across the capital city.

Zookeepers tracked the two-year-old female to the Cramond area on Sunday and tempted her into a trap using her favourite food of mussels and prawns.

Keepers believe she was able to leave the enclosure she shares with fellow ibis and flamingos after a squirrel chewed through its net covering. The adventurous bird will rejoin them after a spell in quarantine.

Colin Oulton, from the zoo’s bird section, said: “The escapee bird took to perching in places that made it a 
tad more difficult to recapture her, so we had to wait for the best time to make 
our move. We always knew it wouldn’t be a straightforward or easy task.”