Two weeks have been spent trying to capture a pig that has caused disruption to a busy motorway in Auckland, New Zealand.
The stray pig has halted traffic temporarily on Auckland’s Northwestern Motorway. Animal control teams and the police responded: “Police are liaising with Animal Control personnel in an attempt to capture the pig.”
The westbound lanes of SH16 near the Te AtatÅ« Rd off-ramp were blocked due to an “animal-control issue” for about 15 minutes, before being reopened.
An Auckland Council spokesperson said the pig was spotted “sunbathing” on the side of the motorway.
It is thought the pig is an escaped pet that is turning feral.
The pig has been caught on camera looking at the trap set up by animal-management staff, but it is yet to go inside.
This isn’t the first time an animal on the loose has been reported on international media. Here is a list of strange animal escapes and chases across the world.
Boar mistaken for lion in Berlin
Berlin locals reported a big cat chasing a wild boar in July. A video later emerged of the suspected lioness in a wooded area, sparking a desperate hunt for the animal.
German armoured police used drones, helicopters, infrared cameras — as well as a 300-horsepower armoured vehicle known as ‘The Survivor’, used in anti-terror operations — to hunt for the predatory carnivore.
However, Michael Grubert, mayor of the Kleinmachnow area, called off the search after experts concluded that it was likely a wild boar and that there never was a lion.
The elusive boar was never found, despite the extensive search operation.
Emu chase in the US
In the US, a pet emu led police on a wild 20-mile chase through a Tennessee town in April, clocking in at speeds of up to 40 mph before escaping his enclosure once more the same week.
MeeMoo the emu belonged to Roane County resident Harry McKinney.
McKinney told New York Post MeeMoo is one of his family’s two emus and he broke loose from their farm after he was spooked by workers logging behind his home. The huge bird then hopped his seven-foot fence and run through the town of Harriman.
Elephant dodges shower
A 40-year-old Asian elephant named Baby startled locals in Blackpool, County Cork, Ireland in 2012 when she broke free from her handlers and ran through the area's commercial centre, according to The Daily Mail.
The elephant allegedly ran away from the circus to escape taking a shower.
Penguin breaks free from Japanese aquarium
The same year, a Humboldt penguin ran away from Tokyo Sea Life Park and wandered the city for an incredible three months.
The missing one-year-old was apprehended after being repeatedly seen swimming in Tokyo Bay.
The penguin returned to the aquarium in good health and appeared to be ready for life in a large city.
Bison returned for bread
Nine bison each weighing half-a-tonne fled an Oakland Zoo in 1997.
However, the herd did not travel very far, precisely 200 feet from the zoo grounds. With slices of bread, the zookeepers enticed the wandering bison to return.
Capone leads escape of 175 monkeys
Even in credible media, there are contradicting articles on this story, but the essential details are as follows: more than 175 rhesus monkeys managed to escape from a Long Island Zoo for several days in 1935, under the leadership of a rhesus monkey named Capone.
The majority of accounts concur that the monkeys’ caretaker was performing his routine cleaning tasks when they attacked. He started by putting a barrier over the moat that separated the island from the rhesus monkeys. The clever rhesus monkeys, meanwhile, just strolled across the board to freedom.
In the end, the zoo offered nearby residents a free season pass (or just cash) if they could bring the missing monkeys back to their habitat. It’s unknown if all were returned.
