Cows Stranded by Quake Rescued

Three New Zealand cows whose predicament captured the interest people around the world after they became stranded on a small island of grass following a powerful earthquake have been rescued, the AP reports. The two cows and a calf were rescued after a farmer and some helpers dug a track to them and brought them out, reports Newshub, which first filmed the cows stuck on the patch of grass near the township of Kaikoura after the magnitude 7.8 quake triggered landslides around them. The farmer says the cows were part of a group of 14 that survived, though many more are believed lost.

The farmer tells Newshub that he would have liked to rescue the trio sooner, but it wasn't clear whether there was going to be another quake. After being rescued, the cows "desperately needed water, cows don't like living without water so that was the first requirement, and I think one or two had lost calves in the earthquake so they were a bit distressed," but they are now safe, he says. The farmer says the fault line runs right through his farm. "It was very steep limestone bluff covered in lovely pasture a week ago and now it's all in the gully," he says. (More New Zealand earthquake stories.)