Stranded Cattle Saved, Livestock Losses Could be "Considerable"
Two cows and a calf were seen on a tower of crumbling soil after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck New Zealand. Much to the relief of people across the globe, the cattle have been rescued.
The farmer and some helpers dug a path to them and were able to save them, although the cattle were desperate for water once rescued.
“It wasn’t very hard to do, but they’ve had a terrible ordeal and they weren’t really very happy about where they were, so that made it a bit easier to get them off,” said Derrick Milton, the cows’ owner.
“They were very lucky that the pit of pasture they were on has survived its trip down the hill because there are a lot of pasture that’s been churned up and buried in the debris,” said Sally Dellow, a GNS Engineering Geologist.
Milton said the quake fault line ran beneath his farm, which had been relatively flat before the earthquake. While these three were saved, Milton lost some calves.
Published reports say there could be “considerable” livestock losses.
Watch footage of the earthquake's aftermath on AgDay above.