Britain's "loneliest sheep" was rescued by farmers from a remote pebble beach off the Scottish Highlands. This is reported by the British »Guardian« . Sheep "Fiona" had been stranded at the foot of the cliffs of the Cromarty Firth in Scotland for at least two years. An animal welfare organization described the rescue attempts as "incredibly difficult." However, five farmers managed to pull the animal up a steep slope.
The rescue was organised by Cammy Wilson, an Ayrshire sheep shearer and presenter of the BBC's "Landward", after seeing media coverage of Fiona's plight. In a video posted on Facebook, he said, "We came here with heavy equipment and brought this sheep up an incredibly steep slope."
"It was hard work to lift her up this slope"
The sheep is in good shape, but overweight. "It was hard work to lift them up that slope," Wilson said.
The sheep was first discovered by Jillian Turner two years ago when she was paddling along the coast of Sutherland with her kayak club, reports the Guardian. She assumed that the sheep would return to its home on its own. When she was paddling along the same track recently, she was horrified to see the same animal. She told the Northern Times: "About half a mile before we turned into the Cromarty Firth, we spotted a sheep on a pebble beach at the foot of a steep, rocky coast. She saw us coming, and called to us all along the beach until she couldn't go any further."
The fleece of the sheep was "huge" and touched the ground on its back. For a herd animal, this must be torture. On the two occasions we passed her, she seemed desperate to get in touch with us."
Fiona's rescuers now want to place the sheep on a farm.
jpa