Bushbaby takes flight from zoo after a brush with Rolf Harris

It's a hard life being a rare Senegal bushbaby. Having endured a solitary life behind bars and endless streams of gawking visitors, it appears the possibility of a rendition of "Tie me Kangaroo Down Sport" may have proved too much.

Staff at London Zoo have been searching for their three-inch high prized exhibit - believed to be the only one in captivity - for 11 days, after having come face-to-face with Rolf Harris and a television crew from his programme Zoo Watch, he made a desperate bid for freedom.

The bushbaby escaped while being transferred to a display pen as Mr Harris and his team came to the nocturnal house to record the event. As a keeper climbed into the glass-fronted pen and tried to release him, he saw his chance and made a dash for a gap in the pen's door.

Zoo staff believe he is still near the animal house and are trying to lure him out of his hiding place with his favourite food, including fruit and nuts.

"We are pretty convinced it is behind the enclosure. We have laid a nest box out with some food inside in the hope it will coax him out," said a spokesman for the zoo. "We hope it will be just a matter of time before we get him back."