KAIKOURA, New Zealand, Nov. 15 (UPI) — A pair of cows were left stranded following an earthquake in New Zealand after another group of three cows were rescued.
A farmer from Kaikoura rescued the two cows and a calf using a pick and shovel after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake raised portions of the land, creating small islands, according to Newshub.
“We dug a track with a number of people – the soil was quite soft because it had all been tipped over and bumbled around, we managed to get a track in and bring them out,” the farmer said.
He added the cows were lucky to have survived, as other livestock from the farm was lost during the quake.
“We did lose stock, there were stock losses, but the whole hillside fell during the earthquake and we had a lot of stock on there — we don’t know what we’ve got,” he said.
Just hours after the trio of cows were rescued, two more cows found themselves stranded on a raised piece of grassy land, Stuff reported.
A police spokesperson said they were not involved with the cow rescue and had to prioritize human rescues.
“The priority of the police is to make sure all human lives are safe and we still need to account for all of them yet,” the spokesperson said.
Wellington SPCA CEO Steve Glassey said the volunteer-operated National Rescue Unit would attempt to perform a live rescue of the cows, but humane euthanasia of the stranded cattle was also a possibility.
“If anyone is able to do this rescue, it’s the NRU. If they can’t do it, no one can,” he said.
