A capybara has been seen swimming in the Dajia River under Pifeng Bridge in Taichung, likely an animal that escaped from a nearby farm two years ago — harmless fun for locals, but a headache for whoever owns it.

• A resident filmed a dark shape moving upstream that turned out to be a capybara, swimming so fast it vanished within seconds.
• Online commenters say it escaped from a leisure farm near the Shigang lovers' wooden bridge, and the owner offered a big reward to get it back.
• Taichung's animal protection office has had no official report yet and does not know where the animal is, but says it looks uninjured and not trapped.
• Owners who let a pet roam public places unattended face fines up to NT$15,000, and deliberate abandonment can cost up to NT$150,000.
• Capybaras are not on the list of animals that must be registered or microchipped, and anyone who finds it is warned not to keep it — that could count as theft.

Outlook: Officials will send staff out only if someone reports a specific location, so the capybara may stay loose in the river for a while yet.