An exotic animal that escaped from its zoo enclosure has been reunited with her keepers after five days on the loose.

A tayra, named Rizzo, had been missing from Hemsley Conservation Centre near Sevenoaks since Sunday.

But the weasle-like mammal from Central America has now been returned to the centre.

Zoo bosses launched an appeal on Monday after her keepers discovered she was not in her enclosure the previous day.

After days of tracking sightings thanks to phone calls from the public, a team of keepers determined her most frequented spots and waited there for further reports, which came at about 8pm yesterday evening.

An hour later, Rizzo was caught in Fawkham, near Brands Hatch, where she had been spotted shortly after going missing.

She has now been returned to the centre, where she spent the night catching up on her rest and has no obvious issues.

Later on today, she will be given a full once over to make sure she is in good health.

But she will be kept by herself for a few days while she is monitored, before being reunited with her mate, Kenickie.

The centre near Fairseat, which has 29 different species of the world's most endangered animals, posted the update on its social media pages.

It said: “We are still investigating how this occurred but we are pleased with this conclusion.

“This outcome would not have been possible without the support of the amazing local people and businesses reporting their sightings and helping us search when these sightings came in, and we extend our thanks and gratitude to every one of you.”

The tayra, which are part of the weasel family, are not classed as endangered but have suffered loss of habitat and been hunted by humans in Mexico.

However, in the south of Bolivia and in northern Argentina, the Tayra is more common thanks to their ability to live near humans in disturbed habitats.