Meet the prairie dog who's escaped his enclosure 100 times

The police may not have heard of him but Willy may well be the most prolific escapee in Germany.

The crafty prairie dog has absconded from his enclosure at Bergzoo in Halle more than 100 times.

And when he does go walkabout it is normally the job of keeper Petra Strecker to track him down and bring him home again.

Petra told Rex Features: "Willy has lived with us since April. Initially, without any problems; however, in June the rascal discovered that he could climb over the boundary wall."

Following that discovery, Willy would regularly go missing from his enclosure to explore the rest of the zoo.

However, his wandering days have now come to an end after the zoo installed plexiglass above and below the wall in order to stop him from clambering to freedom.

Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. They are a type of ground squirrel, found in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The species are herbivores, and are named for their habitat and warning call, which sounds similar to a dog's bark.

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