A wild monkey that has been hunted by authorities in Tampa Bay, Florida, for more than two years - while apparently taunting them from his Facebook page - has finally been captured.

The monkey, which recently bit a woman in St Petersburg's Lake Maggiore neighbourhood, was shot with a tranquiliser dart.

It then wandered into the woods where trappers were able to grab it when it sat down next to a tree. He was taken to an animal hospital to recover from the effects of the dart.

Shannon Fowler, the daughter of the 6-year-old woman bitten by the monkey, told The Tampa Bay Times it was shot as it tried to take bananas from a cage set up to capture it.

Dr Don Woodman of the Animal Hospital of Northwood said: "Previously I used ketamine, I gave him enough that it should have brought down a Tampa Bay Buccaneer linebacker, and he just shrugged it off. This time I used a combination of telazole and dextomator and it worked nicely."

The 2.5m-long cage, containing bananas as bait, was left near the Fowler's house after the attack but the monkey had repeatedly got away despite its trap door.

Another plan to capture the fugitive primate, which was expected to be tried in the coming days, was to place another macaque in a small cage with some food to lure the animal into captivity.

Elizabeth Fowler, who was bitten on the back and neck two weeks ago, reportedly cried as the monkey was shot and taken away.

"We got to say goodbye," she told Fox 13 News. "He was still out and I was like, 'Oh Lord, when he wakes up, he's gonna be mad.'"

On the Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay's Facebook page, members of the public tried to console the now captured primate.

Alice Mae Lewis wrote: "Poor little fella! At least you got a taste of freedom. Most monkeys never get that."

While Brabra Lewis said: "Look at the bright side, now you might be able to mate."