A VULTURE was on the loose last night after escaping from a wildlife centre.The four-year-old female black vulture, called Guinevere, flew off during a training session at the Tropical Wings World of Wildlife in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex, on Saturday.

A VULTURE was on the loose last night after escaping from a wildlife centre.

The four-year-old female black vulture, called Guinevere, flew off during a training session at the Tropical Wings World of Wildlife in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex, on Saturday.

The bird, which has a 5ft wing span and hails from North America, was traced to an oak tree on farmland about two miles away from the centre and yesterday staff were trying to tempt her down with food.

Jason Davey, the centre's assistant general manager, said: "We had her out for training on Saturday when a freak gust of wind caught her. It lifted her off the ground, she did a little circle then panicked a bit and off she went."

Mr Davey said that staff were training Guinevere to take part in a bird of prey display at Easter.

"She is a captive-bred bird and will take food from the hand so that it why we were going to use her in the display,' he said.

"Everyone was gutted when we realised what had happened.

"We immediately went out searching for her and managed to track her across fields. We found her about two miles away from the centre, about 10ft up an oak tree.

"We can't get her down at the moment, but she hasn't had anything to eat since Saturday so we are hoping that she will come down soon.'

Mr Davey said that staff were trying to tempt Guinevere down with her favourite foods - rabbits and chicks.

"She must be starting to get hungry now but they can go up to a week without food, so we could be in for quite a long wait,' he said.

He added that the centre's other black vulture, Lancelot, was missing his companion.