The animal was stranded five meters from shore in Russia’s Far East before emergency workers came to its aid
A young roe deer has ‘miraculously’ survived a harrowing ordeal after becoming trapped in ice on the Amur River in Russia’s Far East, where an Emergency Ministry rescuer risked his life to pull it to safety.
The animal was spotted stranded about five meters from the shore of the Amur River in Khabarovsk Region on Wednesday. Locals alerted emergency services, who promptly dispatched a rescue team, the Emergency Situations Ministry (EMERCOM) said in a statement.
Footage of the rescue shows the animal trapped in an opening in the ice, apparently unable to free itself.
“Miraculously, the deer managed to keep itself from slipping beneath the ice,” the EMERCOM said.
A rescuer, wearing a waterproof suit and secured with a safety rope, crawled across the thin ice to reach the deer and pull it to shore.
The operation was complicated by a steep riverbank and water approximately three meters deep, the agency said. The rescue took place in freezing conditions, with daytime temperatures around −3°C.
The exhausted animal was then taken to a local zoo, where staff provided a warm place for it to recover.
