Scotland's missing monkey has been found after five days roaming the Highlands

The Japanese Macaque was recaptured after going on the run for five days, but it's not clear if he is so happy about that, as our Scotland Correspondent Peter Smith reports

A missing monkey which escaped from a Scottish wildlife park five days ago was caught after being found eating from a birdfeeder, the zoo has confirmed to ITV News.

Honshu, a Japanese Macaque, was captured safely with a tranquiliser dart, is recovering well and is currently being monitored.

On Thursday morning, a team from the park continued their extensive search operations, using drones to try to locate the monkey in the Scottish Highlands.

Highland Wildlife Park boss Keith Gilchrist said: "After a call to our hotline just after 10am our keepers and drone team made their way to a member of the public's garden where the monkey was eating from a birdfeeder and successfully used a tranquiliser dart to catch him.

"The monkey is on the way back to the park with our keepers where he will be looked over by one of our vet team and reintroduced to sub-adult males within the group."

Drone footage caught the moments that led up to Honshu being caught by zookeepers (Credit: BH Wildlife Consultancy)

Teams from the safari park have patrolled the village of Kincraig, Scotland, since he escaped from its enclosure on Sunday.

Residents were asked to bring bird feeders or food waste inside as the wildlife park experts thought Honshu would return if he was hungry.

Experts used drones to track the Japanese Macaque, which found a way out of its enclosure at Highland Wildlife Park, near Kingussie, on Sunday.

Responding to a sighting by members of the public, keepers were able to follow the monkey for 45 minutes on Tuesday using drones, but were not able to capture him.

Drone footage showed Honshu, which is also the largest of the four main islands of Japan, exploring underneath trees and sitting in undergrowth in a forest.

ITV News' Peter Smith confirms the monkey has been caught

One couple who saw the monkey in their back garden at the weekend described the experience as "so surreal".

Carl Nagle, 49, and his partner, Tiina Salzberg, 50, saw the monkey from their patio doors in Kincraig, near Kingussie, on Sunday morning.

The monkey nibbled on the nuts in their bird feeder and perched on their garden fence for about 15 minutes before running away.

The zoo wanted to "thank everyone who has helped" find Honshu and will says it will share any further updates.

Highland Wildlife Park houses a large group of Japanese macaques after successfully breeding the species.

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