On-The-Run Pig Captured After Straying On To RAF Base's Airfield

A pig has been rescued and returned to its owners after it wandered on to the airfield at RAF Benson.

The animal found its way on to the Oxfordshire Royal Air Force's base on Thursday morning, before wildlife and helicopter teams captured it and returned it home.

RAF Benson tweeted: "We're used to having visiting aircraft on our airfield but this morning's visitor was something a little different.

"Thankfully our wildlife and helicopter handling specialists were able to adapt their skills to safely capture the pig and reunite it with the owners."

It is not the first time in 2020 the RAF has been involved in the rescue of an animal – in July, a Puma was used to save a cow that had been stranded in a Cumbrian gorge for several days.

The animal was stuck close by Crammel Linn Waterfall on the RAF Spadeadam estate, but muddy surfaces meant the fire brigade was unable to help it.

And in other wildlife news, one of the UK’s largest and most endangered spiders was rediscovered in a Ministry of Defence training area in October.

The Great Fox-Spider, red-listed as ‘critically endangered', had not been sighted in the UK for more than 25 years and was feared extinct.