An escaped zebra who was on the run for six days has finally been captured with the help of a rodeo clown and a loaf of white bread.

Sugar – also known as Shug – was one of four zebras that bolted from a trailer while being transported from Winlock, 30 miles east of Seattle, to a petting zoo in Anaconda, Montana.

The animals made their dash for freedom when the owner stopped to fix a problem with the trailer.

While three of the zebras were quickly recaptured, the mare proved elusive and was later spotted wandering around the area.

Desperate to be reunited with Sugar, Kristine Keltgen, who owns a petting zoo, appealed for help.

Signs were put up on the roadside. One read: “South Fork is Team Zebra! Call 911 if you see her.”

Patrick Murphy, a local resident, told Komo, a local radio station: “It’s kind of like the local Bigfoot now. I hope they catch her.”

David Danton, 52, a former rodeo clown and bullfighter, joined the volunteers trying to corral Sugar.

Having worked in rodeos for 30 years, he’s used to dealing with big animals, including racehorses, cattle and goats.

Mr Danton devised a complex plan to capture the nervous animal.

“We’ve had loose animals, and it’s just a panic,” Mr Danton told the New York Times. “It’s such a stressful, anxiety, scary time.”

After Sugar was spotted by a local mountain biker, Mr Danton got to work tracking her movements.

The first step was to create a pen of around three acres, then a succession of smaller pens.

Mr Danton then used Sugar’s favourite treat, white bread, to lure her in. He crinkled a wrapper to get her attention, and after hearing the sound she trotted after him into the enclosure.

As she munched her way through oats and hay, Mr Danton built a smaller pen and finally a 24ft-long alley that led to the trailer.

“They did a kind of dragnet, smaller and smaller to guide her into the trailer, and she was hauled off,” said Cameron Satterfield, a spokesman for the Regional Animal Services of King County.

“This could not have ended any better than it did.”