Stolen miniature donkey foal is found

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.

Skylark numbers are on the rise

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%.

Former Army captain swims to the Isle of Man

A former Army captain has become the first person to swim from mainland Britain to the Isle of Man, raising £16,000 for the charity Healthier Heroes in the process. Adam Diver, 46, took two-and-a-half days to swim to the island. The crossing is 31 miles, but he believes he actually covered about 46 miles because he swam in a zigzag to avoid going against the tides. He said it felt “amazing” to have completed the swim, which he first attempted last year, but admitted that jellyfish and other challenges had made it a bit of a “suffer fest”.

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