A large South American bird is on the loose in the Home Counties after it managed to escape from the field. The bird is similar to an ostrich and has the potential to run at a speed of up to 40mph.

The rhea grew up on the border of Essex and Hertfordshire from where it escaped several weeks ago. Despite intense efforts, the bird has not been recaptured yet. The bird's owner, Jo Clarke, said to the BBC's Laura Trant that public need not to be scared of the bird.

The bird has been claimed by many to pose the risk of injuries to humans after it escaped from a farm in Hertfordshire UK last month. The bird has been on the lam in English countryside ever since it escaped, and has sparked fears in residents living there. The bird is not able to fly, but can run at speeds of 40mph and can disembowel a human.

The bird has been reported to have escaped after being spooked by the local hunt. Di Pyper is the master of the Puckeridge Hunt. Pyper said members of the hunt had witnessed the rhea walking away while they were hunting a field near the bird's home.

"We weren't very near it and the hounds didn't go anywhere near it but some people told me they'd seen what they thought was an ostrich trotting through a field", she said.

A cyclist was 20 miles away when he was startled by the bird last week in Nuthampstead, Ray Murdoch. The 66-year-old retired teacher said he was riding his bicycle when he noticed the rhea in a roadside field.

Murdoch admitted that he was stunned seeing something that is not possible to see every day. The first look made him think that it was a crane but when he got close he realized what he saw was actually rather large to be a crane.