In a surprising turn of events, three construction workers in Estonia experienced the shock of their lives when they found themselves rescuing a wolf, mistaking it for a dog, from a frozen lake.
This extraordinary tale was first unveiled on the Eestimaa Loomakaitse Liit Facebook page, which provides an in-depth account of the incident, complete with striking photographs.
A glance at these images will leave you with no doubt as to why the workers initially identified the wild wolf as a stray dog.
The incident unfolded on the icy expanse of the Pärnu River in Estonia.
Construction workers Rando Kartsepp, Robin Sillamäe, and Erki Väli were engaged in cleaning the river when they spotted the animal.
It appeared to them as a dog, stranded in the middle of the river, with a strip of ice separating it from the shore.
Observing the animal’s struggle to reach safety, the workers felt compelled to intervene.
United in their resolve, the three Estonians worked diligently to forge a path through the ice, enabling the animal to reach the shore.
By the time it reached the workers, the creature was utterly exhausted and covered with icicles.
Recognizing the animal was suffering from severe hypothermia, the crew swaddled it in blankets and transported it to a veterinary clinic for further care.
“We had to carry him over the slope. He weighed a fair bit,” Kartsepp shared with the Postimees, an Estonian newspaper.
Throughout the ordeal, the animal remained remarkably calm, behaving much like a dog seeking affection.
“He was calm, slept on my legs. When I wanted to stretch them, he raised his head for a moment,” Kartsepp recalled.
In a surprising twist, it was revealed that the animal they had rescued was not a dog, but a wolf.
Even the veterinarian on duty was initially fooled.
It was a local hunter, familiar with the local fauna, who correctly identified the creature as a young male wolf, approximately one year old.
Upon discovering the true identity of the animal, the clinic staff decided to house it in a kennel as a precautionary measure.
They were uncertain about how the wolf might behave once it regained its strength.
“At first, he was so done in for he didn’t resist at all. We simply kept him in this room.
But once he started to get an idea of the situation, I felt things might quickly take a turn for the dangerous.
We got him into a cage,” Tarvo Markson, the head of the clinic, explained.
Fortunately, the wolf made a swift recovery, regaining its vitality within a day.
The Estonian Union for Protection of Animals (EUPA) generously covered the veterinary bill.
Once the wolf was declared healthy, the EUPA fitted it with a tracker and returned it to the wild.
“We are so happy for the outcome of the story, and wish to thank all the participants, especially these men who rescued the wolf and the doctors of the clinic who were not afraid to treat and nurture the wild animal,” EUPA expressed.
The wolf was indeed fortunate to have been discovered and rescued by these compassionate construction workers.
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