IT is the ostrich-like bird native to the plains of South America.

So police and firefighters were surprised to called to rescue a rhea found in a Hampshire garden.

The large flightless bird was put in a crate and taken to Sparsholt College after it was discovered in the village of North Boarhunt on Thursday afternoon.

Nicknamed 'Snowflake' by a bystander, the female white rhea is likely to have escaped from a private collection, Hampshire Police said.

Experts at the college's Animal Management Centre were surprised when officers called for help.

Chris Mitchell, centre manager, said: “Working with animals, we're accustomed to unusual conversations involving out of the ordinary situations.

"However it did catch me slightly off guard when we had a call from the Hampshire police control room declaring that there was a large bird in a front garden in North Boarhunt and could the college assist.”

Police and firefighters had already contained the animal in the garden by the time Sparsholt arrived. Staff checked its health and then shipped it to Sparsholt in a box.

The bird, which the college says is "none the worse for her adventure", has yet to be claimed, but several rhea have been on the loose in Hampshire in recent months.

Two have been roaming the countryside since July after escaping a smallholding in South Wonston, more than 20 miles away from North Boarhunt.