Stolen miniature donkey foal is found

Moon was found by the police and returned

(Image credit: Miller’s Ark/Facebook)

published 8 June 2023

A Mediterranean miniature donkey foal that was stolen from a community farm in Hampshire has been found by police and returned to its mother. Moon, who is three months old, and just 18 inches tall, went missing from Miller’s Ark in Hook on 15 May. An appeal to find her soon gained traction on social media, with hundreds contacting the police with possible leads, including one woman who claimed she’d seen a baby donkey in the back of a blue estate car. Moon was finally tracked down to a house in High Wycombe. Miller’s Ark said it was “beyond thrilled” to have the foal back and that it would now be investing in security cameras.

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Skylark numbers declined 75% between 1972 and 1996, owing largely to changes in agricultural practices, including more intensive methods, but the birds are now making a modest recovery. The latest breeding bird survey by the British Trust for Ornithology found that populations of the skylark, Wordsworth’s “pilgrim of the sky”, have grown 10% in the past five years. In some areas, such as the east Midlands and southeast England, they are up nearly 20%.

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