Firefighters rescue badger in distress

The firefighters used a ladder to access the tank © RSPCA

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service joined forces with the RSPCA to retrieve a badger, which had fallen into an empty, 4.5m-deep tank at a sewage treatment works.

Once the anxious mammal was sedated, the fire crew went down into the tank using a ladder, put him into a basket and handed him to RSCPA inspector Sarah Bate.

“The poor badger had exhausted himself trying to get out,” says Bate. “I got him to a vet to be checked over, and thankfully he wasn’t injured.”

The badger was exhausted after attempting to escape from the tank © RSPCA

Bate went on to explain that after waking up from sedation, the badger was released into the wild – far away from the sewage tank!

Read more wildlife news stories in BBC Wildlife Magazine

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.3px Tahoma; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}
p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.3px Tahoma; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; min-height: 16.0px}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}