Jin, the evasive Auckland Zoo otter, is back home after spending four weeks on the loose.
A Department of Conservation spokesperson says she was found at Islington Bay on Monday, in the causeway between Rangitoto and Motutapu after being spotted by a fisherman.
DOC's Auckland area manager, Beau Fraser, says Jin seems to have adapted well to life in the wild. He says she will be carefully examined by zoo vets, but she appears to be in good condition.
Jin had eluded authorities since escaping from Auckland Zoo last month.
Three otters escaped from a newly repaired nest box and while two were back in their enclosure by the next day, Jin managed to escape by digging through two walls and scaling a 1.8 metre high barrier around her enclosure.
She then went on a jaunt around Auckland
To the surprise of zoo staff the asiatic short-clawed otter was spotted in Devonport on the Tuesday after she went missing, which meant she made her way from Western Springs to the waterfront and across the Waitemata Harbour.
In the days following that sighting she was spotted at Stanley Bay, where Navy boats checked the shoreline and police searched the streets to no avail.
Amy Dixon, a carnivore keeper at Auckland Zoo, collected Jin and brought her home.
She says Jin has lost about a third of her body weight since her escape.
Dixon says she will be quarantined for a month before she is allowed to join the zoo's other otters.
