An asylum seeking raccoon found in Cambridgeshire had found a new home after hitching a lift into the UK on the back of a lorry.
Runaway Fifi fled France and survived by living off the land after arriving in the county late last year.
Despite numerous sightings of the critter, she managed to evade the authorities for six months before finally being detained in a rooftop scramble in Broughton, near Huntingdon in March.
She was captured by Fenland Animal Rescue workers following a protracted "cat and mouse" chase around different areas of the garden she was found in.
"We think she hopped in a lorry in Calais," said volunteer Josh Flanagan.
"Her microchip has never been noted as being imported, and it was confirmed that she escaped her enclosure in France."
Fifi, who was initially believed to be male, was found on the roof of a house in Broughton on March 23.
A spokesman for Fenland Animal Rescue said: "Our call handler was certainly puzzled after taking this call, but it is safe to say that Cambridgeshire never ceases to amaze us.
"With the animal moving to different areas of the property, it was a short game of &apos;cat and mouse&apos;, before we were able to secure him on a rooftop and bring him down to safety.
"Raccoons are not native to the UK, so they are not an animal our team have come into contact with previously and certainly not one that should be living wild.
"Once safely in our care, he was treated to a big lunch and plenty of fluids to make him comfortable and ensure he settled in nicely."
Following her capture, Fifi was taken in by new owners at a private animal sanctuary in Rochester, Kent.
She joined four other raccoons - Randall, Scooter, Rocket and Rosie, as well as pigs, monkeys, birds of prey and coatis - which are related to raccoons.
Vets confirmed Fifi had been registered in Europe and there was no trace of her being imported into the UK.
Her new owner Andy Cowell, 48, said: "She did come to us overweight, so she has been well-fed in the wild.
"She is very very good, she actually has got no issues whatsoever with other raccoons.
"We keep a tight enclosure that is dug into the ground, we have roofs, double doors on the enclosure, cameras.
"It&apos;s pretty much as raccoon-proof as you can make it."
Raccoons are native to North America, with some recently emerging in Europe and Japan.
Last year they featured on a list of animals banned as pets by the European Union.
While they have been known to be kept as pets, they are nothing like domestic animals in their nature.
They can be extremely destructive to property and often aggressive, lashing out at their owners.