Water hazard! Wild boar rescued from Spanish golfing pond amid heatwave
A woman works at the Community of Madrid Medical Emergency Service (SUMMA) call center during the second heatwave of the year, in Madrid, Spain, July 14, 2022. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
MADRID — Spanish firefighters and forest rangers rescued a large wild boar on Monday from a pond at a golf course near Madrid after the animal went for a refreshing splash amid a scorching heatwave and found itself trapped.
Video footage showed four people chasing the boar in an inflatable boat and then using catchpoles to bring it to the shore where they and half a dozen other rescuers finally pulled it out up the artificial pond shore’s slippery plastic lining.
A few golfers watched the rescue from a distance.
“A wild boar thought it was too hot and went for a splash,” the Madrid region’s Fire Brigade tweeted. “It wasn’t an easy task.”
The boar weighed over 100 kg (220 pounds) and forest rangers ultimately sedated the animal to be able to move it to a forest nearby.
RELATED STORIES
Clothes on fire, hero digger driver escapes Spanish wildfire
Wildfires rage in France, Spain as heatwaves sear Europe
‘Climate change affects everyone’: Europe battles wildfires in intense heat
Southern Europe battles wildfires as heat wave spreads north
