Escaped capybara Cinnamon stars in new children’s book

A capybara who became world famous after escaping from a zoo is set to be the star of a new children’s book.

Cinnamon fled her enclosure at Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World in Telford on 13 September after a gate was accidentally left open.

It gripped animal lovers across the world and she spent a week on the run before she was captured in a conservation area next to the zoo on 20 September.

Her story has since sparked internet memes, merchandise, a song, and now a children’s book called Cinnamon’s Big Adventure.

Tracey J Morgan, the author, said she was “eagerly watching” Cinnamon’s escapades, adding that it captured everybody’s imagination.

“Everyone was willing Cinnamon to get home,” she told BBC Radio Shropshire.

An animal lover herself, Ms Morgan said she had been friends with people at the zoo for years and the idea for a children’s book was originally suggested as a joke by the zoo’s owner Will Dorrell.

She eventually settled on writing the book in a rhyming style similar to The Gruffalo and said she had a Zoom meeting with Cinnamon herself to “grill her” for more detail about her adventures.

“When Cinnamon went missing, everybody wanted her back, but I felt like I had a personal connection as well because I knew how hard they worked,” Ms Morgan said.

“It was interesting as an outsider to watch it all unfold, I can’t imagine what it was like for the zoo to be in the middle of it all. She really captured people’s hearts.”

The book will be available on the zoo’s website from 16 December.