Samba the capybara is still at large(在逃；逍遥法外). Along with her older sister, Tango, the intrepid(无畏的，勇敢的) rodent made her escape from Marwell zoo in Winchester in March. Tango all but gave herself up(投降；自首) on day two; Samba broke for(冲向；奔向) the marshy(沼泽的，湿软的) wetlands of the River Itchen. Word spread and within days the fugitive(逃亡者，逃犯) was an international social media star. But despite an intense search, the dense Hampshire countryside has afforded(提供，给予) her a haven(避难所，庇护所). Six months on, Samba remains elusive(难以捉摸的，难以找到的).
水豚桑巴仍然在逃。今年三月，这只胆大的啮齿动物和姐姐探戈一起从温彻斯特的马威尔动物园逃走。探戈第二天就几乎主动投降；桑巴则奔向伊钦河沿岸的沼泽湿地。消息传开后，短短几天，这位逃犯就成了国际社交媒体明星。然而，尽管展开了密集搜索，汉普郡茂密的乡野还是为她提供了庇护所。六个月过去了，桑巴依然踪迹难寻。
Marwell’s staff still aren’t sure how the capybaras escaped, although they have their suspicions(怀疑，猜疑). Tango and Samba were born on Jimmy’s Farm and Wildlife Park in Suffolk in the summer of 2025. They arrived at Marwell zoo on Monday 16 March, to great excitement. “They were a little bit shy when they got here, as you would expect,” says Laura Read, the chief executive of Marwell Wildlife. “But they were fine.” They were immediately placed in a quarantined(隔离的，检疫的) habitat, as is standard procedure(标准程序，常规做法) for new arrivals. The plan was to keep them there for 30 days.
马威尔动物园的员工至今仍不确定两只水豚是如何逃脱的，尽管他们有所怀疑。探戈和桑巴于2025年夏天出生在萨福克郡的吉米农场与野生动物园。它们于3月16日星期一抵达马威尔动物园，引起了极大的兴奋。“它们刚到这里时有点害羞，这也在意料之中，”马威尔野生动物园首席执行官劳拉·里德说。“但它们状态不错。”它们立即被安置在一个隔离栖息地，这是新来动物的标准程序。计划是让它们在那里待30天。
The next day, the vet and zookeepers did their morning checks and everything was fine. But when they returned that afternoon, Samba and Tango had vanished(消失，突然不见). “There was no sign of them digging out(挖洞逃出) – they don’t dig – and there was no sign of them chewing their way out(咬出一条路逃出),” says Darren Ives, a senior zookeeper who has been at Marwell for 15 years. He’s a member of the hoofstock(蹄类动物) team, who are responsible for “horses, equids(马科动物), that kind of stuff … basically anything that’s big and shits a lot”. That includes capybaras – which are native to most of South America – although rather than hooves they have partly webbed toes.(这包括水豚——它们原产于南美洲大部分地区——不过它们没有蹄子，而是长着部分蹼状的脚趾。)
第二天，兽医和动物园管理员进行了晨检，一切正常。但当天下午他们回来时，桑巴和探戈已经消失了。“没有它们挖洞逃走的痕迹——它们不挖洞——也没有它们咬穿围栏的痕迹，”在马威尔工作了15年的资深动物园管理员达伦·艾夫斯说。他是蹄类动物团队的成员，负责“马、马科动物之类的……基本上就是所有体型大、拉得多的动物”。这包括水豚——它们原产于南美洲大部分地区——不过它们没有蹄子，而是长着部分蹼状的脚趾。