Stowaway porcupine travels by helicopter, plane, boat and truck on nearly 2,000-km round-trip across B.C.
The young female was dubbed "Mackenzie" after the B.C. community about 100 kilometres north of Prince George where she is believed to have stowed away in the wreckage of a small plane crash. Details of the crash have not been released due to privacy reasons.
The porcupine was only discovered after the wreckage was taken to a salvage yard in Kelowna — more than 800 kilometres away from Mackenzie — first by helicopter, then by boat and a flat-deck trailer.
When the porcupine was unwilling to come out from beneath the pilot's seat, workers at the yard called on the Interior Wildlife Rehabilitation Society for help.
"This is definitely a first," said society president Eva Hartmann. "That she was transported so far is definitely unusual."
Hartmann said rescue volunteers had to sedate Mackenzie in order to get her out of the wreckage, and then gave her a quick examination.
Finding she was healthy, they took her back to their facility in Summerland where they posted online about her plight, including the need to transport her back to Mackenzie, as rehabilitation centres are required to release wildlife close to their original homes.
They were contacted by the volunteer group Big to the Rescue, which offers transport to animals in need. Mackenzie was taken to the airport in Penticton, B.C., and given to pilot Jayson Biggs, who flew her back to Mackenzie where conservation officers released her into the woods.
"That was probably the longest day of flying I've ever had," Biggs said in a post on social media, calling the release a "big, big success." The post included footage of Mackenzie walking into the forest.
Hartmann said porcupines are generally solitary creatures so despite having a once-in-a-lifetime story, Mackenzie probably wouldn't be telling it to anyone.
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