Escaped beaver possibly spotted near 21st and Amidon (INTERACTIVE MAP)

Chapa, a Wichita beaver cherished by many children, has gone missing.

A search is underway.

“He’s very shy,” said Connie Storrie, who helped rescue the little orphan three years ago. “But he knows my voice. And he knows his own name.”

The beaver has been missing since the early morning hours of Tuesday, when he broke out of his cage in the Kansas Wildlife Exhibit at Central Riverside Park.

The description of the little guy is as follows:

▪ About 45 pounds, some of it fat, much of it incredibly strong muscle.

▪ Stocky.

▪ Light brown hair.

▪ Beaver tail.

▪ Big teeth.

Storrie, the animal display attendant at the exhibit, has searched miles of the Little Arkansas River, from the Keeper of the Plains all the way to 21st Street.

About noon Thursday, a resident at Marina Point Apartments, near 21st and Amidon, took a picture of a beaver that could have been Chapa near the complex. The search was concentrating around that area Thursday evening, Storrie said, though she said she would not stay out all night because her knees were giving her trouble.

“We traveled quite a ways, but we were pretty tuckered out when we were done,” Storrie said.

She had hoped someone might donate the use of a canoe or two to help find him; however, the blustery weather Thursday was not conducive to canoeing, she said.

She did acquire a motor boat from the Park Department, but upon hitting the water, realized the motor on the boat was kaput.

So she paddled the glider-style boat up and down the river.

To those who love him, Chapa’s possible loss is heartbreaking. He was found injured and orphaned three years ago in one of the muddy pools of Chisholm Creek Park, Storrie said.

He’s helpless out there, in the wilds of Wichita, she said. Wild beaver know how to eat the inside bark of small fresh tree branches. They build dens to hide and protect themselves.

But Chapa (pronounced like Choppa) has been coddled for three years on a diet of apples, carrots and sweet potatoes – he has no idea what to eat out there, or where to hide.

“He’s probably hungry, and scared,” said Jim Mason, director of the Great Plains Nature Center.

If seen, do not approach, Storrie said. Chapa – Lakota for “beaver” – has long teeth.

“Beaver can chew through big tree branches really fast, so biting through a finger would be nothing,” she said. “If people see him, they should not try to catch or corral him. I’m hoping they call and let me have time to get there.”

He’s had a hard life, Storrie said. He was found, when only a month and a half old, by people participating in Walk for Wildlife at Chisholm Creek, the big nature park on the east side of Wichita.

Besides being orphaned and hungry, he’d been attacked by another wild creature, Storrie said. His wounds were abscessing, and she had to argue with him to medicate the wounds for a long time before they healed.

“It hurt, and it was a long time before he trusted me after that,” she said.

Chapa forced his way out of a part of the cage weakened by his busy-beaver work ethic. They had put small logs in there, and Chapa kept pulling them off the side of his cage, which weakened the staples of the wire mesh. He forced his way out early Tuesday and took off, she said.

If you think you see Chapa, call 316-516-5660, parks officials said.

Contributing: Matt Riedl of The Eagle

This story was originally published April 9, 2015 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Escaped beaver possibly spotted near 21st and Amidon (INTERACTIVE MAP)."