Escaped coati captured and brought to animal shelter in Zundert

The escaped coati that was spotted in the trees in a Breda neighborhood earlier this week was captured. The female is now staying at the ZRC Zundert bird rehabilitation center, an employee there confirmed after the story was reported by Omroep Brabant. The bird facility's staff determined the animal is a red coati.

The animal was caught in a person's backyard on Thursday evening and brought to Zundert. Normally, the Stichting Aap exotic animals nonprofit organization would take care of the coati, but the quarantine facility is full there, explained the employee of ZRC Zundert.

Coatis must be quarantined for a month when they are captured, because of the diseases they may carry. In addition to birds, ZRC Zundert also sometimes takes in hedgehogs and foxes, so it has enclosures suitable for the small coati.

The red coati is an exotic species, which is not normally present in the Netherlands. The animal may not just be kept in a home, according to the bird rehabilitation center. "It may be that it was someone's pet after all," said the employee. "She may have escaped, or been dumped."

The coati was very skinny and hungry. "She's already eaten well here." According to the employee, the animal was not chipped. Eventually she will probably be sent to live in a zoo. The bird rehabilitation center is consulting with Stichting Aap about this.