AN escaped llama sparked a massive search after jumping a five-foot fence less than a week after it had been given a new home at a Scottish wildlife park.

The animal moved in to Black Isle Wildlife Park in Kessock, Inverness-shire, last Saturday, only to flee its enclosure and go on the run on Wednesday.

Zookeepers launched a public appeal to find Bugsy the llama and it was finally tracked down yesterday on Forestry Commission land, where it was put down to prevent it from running on to public roads.

A spokesman for Forestry Commission Scotland said: "The owner had been unable to capture the animal and asked for permission to shoot it in order to prevent it from wandering on to public roads and potentially being the cause of a serious accident.

"In order to ensure the operation was carried out without risk to the public, on the advice of the owner a commission ranger put the animal down."

Eric Maxwell, manager at family-run Black Isle Wildlife Park, said: "We thought it was the best way to cause as little stress as possible to the animal."