The American bald eagle which made off from the Beekse Bergen safari park last week after a ‘conflict’ with a group of gulls is back with her trainer.

Lady Maya, who has been at the zoo for 27 years and has a 2.5 metre wingspan, flew away last Tuesday afternoon but was traced to the nearby village of Goirle on Monday.

Called by her primary keeper, the bird flew down to his outstretched hand, the safari park said on Facebook. ‘It’s fantastic and we’d like to thank everyone who helped us find her and for sharing tips,’ the safari park said. ‘Without you it would never have happened.’

The park’s birds of prey are not kept in cages and can fly away if they want to, spokesman Klaas-Jan Leinenga told the NRC last week. ‘But they are so attached to their keepers that they never do.’