Antelope called Taylor Swift escapes from zoo enclosure

Visitors spot eastern bongo calf running free in Sacramento tourist attraction

Taylor Swift, the one-year-old antelope, sparked an alert at Sacramento Zoo after escaping over a fence.

The eastern bongo calf was spotted running free through the common visitor area at the tourist attraction in California on Monday.

Staff closed the main gate and evacuated guests to the front of the zoo while they coaxed the animal back to a holding area.

“They used baffle boards and tables to gently guide the calf down the pathway and up the back road to her off-exhibit holding area,” spokesperson Laurel Vincent said.

The escape is thought to have lasted less than 15 minutes.

Zookeepers said the calf was unharmed apart from a few minor cuts and speculated she may have been “spooked by the wind”.

Taylor Swift was born at Sacramento Zoo on 4 September 2017 and was named after the well-known singer because she was “very swiftly up on her feet”.

The calf is known for being “very chatty” and has regularly been heard “mooing when she’s prancing through the exhibit,” according to the zoo website.

Eastern bongos are a critically endangered species of antelope and it has been estimated there are only 200 left in the wild.

They live in isolated groups in the mountain forests of Kenya but their natural habitat is under threat because of illegal logging activity, hunting and a growing human population.

In 2004 the Bongo Surveillance Project was set up to monitor the remaining animals and the threats to their survival.