Operation Camel Rescue

One of our dairy camels got herself into quite a predicament and had to be rescued this week! 

Here’s the story from our Cameleer Jess, who found her:

When I went to move the big mob into a different paddock, I noticed Olaf aka Mumma Bear, one of my favourites, was missing so the next day we went for a walk through the paddock and along Warrill Creek to look for her. It was getting dark, so we were only able to search about a third of the paddock and had no luck. I returned to search the next section and just before I was about to give up and head home for the day, I found her.

Olaf looked so sad, it broke my heart.

Somehow Olaf had managed to get down into the creek and then got herself stuck on the opposite bank on a small bit of land with no way out.

When she heard the buggy coming, she jumped up because she knew that meant food! We gave her some much-needed hay and assessed the situation. It was a very steep bank that even we struggled to get out of.

The next day Operation Camel Rescue began and within 2 hours we had her up and out of the creek. Olaf was very happy to see us!

The first step was to get a halter on her, which was a challenge because even though she is trained for the dairy, she isn’t halter trained.

After multiple dips in the creek for everyone involved we managed to get the straps underneath her.

While waiting for the excavator she got herself up and out of the creek and into the perfect position ready to be lifted out.

We tied a jumper over her face as a blindfold to keep her nice and calm and up she went!

She remained very still and calm the whole time.

Due to the distance back to the road, the uneven ground and the long grass she was carried all the way.

She was then loaded onto the float and brought back home to enjoy some much needed food and to be spoilt by our team.  She did not sit down all day.  She just wanted to walk around and enjoy her freedom.

We don't know exactly how long she had been down there but it had been a while. Thankfully camels are extremely tough and she will bounce back in no time.