POLICE investigations are continuing after burglars broke into Washford's Tropiquaria Zoo and either released or tried to steal one of their exotic animals. The zoo's racoon dog was recovered unharmed after she disappeared in the early hours of Saturday morning. Witnesses had reported seeing a creature on the road outside the zoo at around 2am on Saturday. Passing badger cull activists are also believed to have slowed down passing traffic to stop her being run over. Tropiquaria director Chris Moiser said a metal bar had been removed from the zoo's perimeter fencing and a large section of wiring had been bent back to gain access to the isolation unit where the racoon dog was being kept. He said she was not on display and only a handful of people outside of Tropiquaria knew she was in the isolation unit. But he said, other than having an upset tummy, the tanuki - which is the Japanese name for a racoon dog - seemed to be none the worse for her ordeal. "A member of the public apparently found her half a mile away, sniffing at a fox carcass, and handed her over to a volunteer from the Secret World wildlife rescue centre. "We are ever so pleased to have her back and have now placed her in a different enclosure to the one that she was in originally whilst we assess her condition," Mr Moiser said. "Although she appears fit and well at present we cannot be sure what she has eaten whilst out, or what she wild animal diseases she may have come into contact with. "Fortunately she is immunised against the most common ones though." He appealed for anyone with information about the break-in to contact the police. "From social website chatter, there appear to have been several anti-badger cull people in the area at the time that she disappeared who think that they may have seen something. "We do ask that they contact the police with any information they may have, even down to timings, because this will increase the chance of an arrest. "Clearly, releasing an animal like this during the badger cull period is an act of crass stupidity and could have led to the death of the animal. We are fortunate that it didn't," Mr Moiser said. l Separately, Mr Moiser has found himself dragged into the controversy surrounding the cull after Tropiquaria's "badger cull risk assessment" for 2013 was leaked on the Stop the Cull Facebook site. The assessment refers to incidents where badgers apparently trying to escape the cull sought safety within Tropiquaria's grounds but were then caught and removed or chased off-site. Mr Moiser said he had drawn up the assessment to cover the zoo legally if a visitor disturbed a badger within the grounds and was subsequently bitten. But he said he could not comment in detail on the document - or the resulting furore it caused on social media - as police were investigating its "theft". Many badger cull opponents were furious badgers seeking solace had been removed from the grounds and vented their anger both on anti-cull social media sites and on Tropiquaria's own Facebook page. The assessment said Tropiquaria had to remain neutral on the subject of the cull and also referred to instances where cull marksmen had apparently used the zoo's car park as a rendezvous point. The assessment states: "Car park barriers will be closed some nights because of human activity there, including vehicles with active IR night-sights (hunters meeting up before ops)." Some social media users took the sentence to mean the car park would be closed specifically to allow cull shooters to use it as a base. Mr Moiser vehemently denied he had given permission for cull marksmen to use the zoo's car park and said no-one with firearms would ever be allowed on site. "We were using the barriers to keep them out and to stop them getting in to the car park," Mr Moiser said. Anyone with information about the break-in, which is believed to have happened between 8pm last Friday and around 2am on Saturday, should contact the police on 101 and quote the reference number 94947/14.