Hanko resident finds escaped pet porcupine in garden

A resident of Hanko, southern Finland, discovered an escaped pet porcupine in his garden on Wednesday morning, prompting a rare police intervention to locate its owner, reports Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

Bram Geyskens told Yle he opened his curtains in the morning and saw an animal “we don’t usually see here.” After contacting Helsinki’s Korkeasaari Zoo, which identified the creature as a porcupine, Geyskens called the police.

Officers from Espoo Police Department confirmed the animal was a porcupine, a species not native to Finland. “These cases, where an animal not belonging in Finnish nature ends up on someone’s property, are very rare,” said Detective Inspector Jyrki Kallio.

Local hunters helped trace the porcupine’s origin to a neighbour who keeps two as pets. The owner arrived to collect the escaped animal, which did not require a police vehicle for transport. “That might not be the most suitable means of transport for a porcupine,” Kallio noted.

Though the owners assured Geyskens the porcupine posed no threat, he kept his children away from the 40-centimetre-spined animal. The incident ended without harm, leaving those involved with an unusual story. “Who says nothing ever happens in Hanko?” Geyskens laughed.