Plea for sightings of missing armadillo in Sussex

The public is being asked to report sightings of a six-banded armadillo named Stanley on the loose in East Sussex.

The mammal escaped from Animal Magic, a company based near Hailsham that organises school visits and birthday parties.

Sightings have been reported on the Cuckoo Trail path between Hailsham and Polegate.

Co-owner Chris Coetzer told BBC Radio Sussex that Stanley had “managed to force a door open” to escape an enclosure.

On a previous occassion when “he escaped at a party, I had to chase him, and I had to run quite fast to catch him,” he said.

Coetzer asked anybody who saw the animal to contact Animal Magic.

He said he suspected Stanley could be drawn towards food smells from a farm shop in the area or from nearby campers.

Six-banded armadillos can have a body length of between 15 and 20 inches (40-50cm), tails that are eight to 10 inches and can weigh between 6 and 16lb (3–7kg), according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, external.