High-altitude rescue teams arrived

A fawn was rescued from a six-meter-deep well

The deer was rescued by the emergency responders.(Bild: Hermann Kollinger)

Unusual animal rescue in Alkoven (Upper Austria). On Sunday morning, a woman out for a walk spotted a deer in a well shaft. The high-altitude rescue team from the Alkoven Volunteer Fire Department arrived on the scene to rescue the animal and release it unharmed back into the wild.

At 7:42 a.m. on Sunday, the Alkoven Volunteer Fire Department was alerted to an animal rescue operation by the state emergency response center. A woman out for a walk had previously noticed a deer crying out in a dry well six to seven meters deep and called emergency services.

The woman on the walk guided the firefighters to the scene, which was located on a dirt road. A hunter had also already been alerted. After setting up a four-point anchor, a member of the high-altitude rescue team was lowered by rope to the bottom of the well.

Back to the Surface with a Motorized Winch
He managed to grab the frightened deer, and both man and animal were then brought back to the surface using a motorized winch. After the team took charge of the deer, it—apparently unharmed—fled and ran off.

It is unclear how long the animal had been trapped in the well, whose concrete cover had apparently collapsed.