A collapsed baby deer was ‘brought back to life’ with an oxygen mask after being rescued from a raging moor fire by firefighters and the RSPCA.
RSPCA inspector Daniel Bradshaw was called to moorland off Sand Lane, in Wroot, near Doncaster, on Wednesday afternoon (20 May) by fire crews who had been tackling the fire for three days.
He said: “There were eight fire engines and crews on the scene from across Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire trying to tackle the blaze. When they were fighting the flames they came across this tiny roe deer kid curled up in the shrubs and pulled her to safety but she soon collapsed and stopped breathing so they put an oxygen mask over her nose. The fire was huge and the crews did an incredible job getting this terrified little kid to safety and helping her when she was struggling to breathe. I’m certain they brought her back to life and without their quick-thinking actions she may well have perished.”
The fire, thought to have started naturally, had been burning since Sunday (17 May) across a vast area of Hatfield Moors.
Daniel collected the tiny kid and took her to a wildlife expert for emergency overnight boarding before she’s moved to the RSPCA’s Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in Cheshire for specialist rehabilitation.
He added: “It looks as though she’s between three and seven days old and is unweaned. She was found right at the heart of the fire so I suspect mum has run away and she’s now been orphaned."
The kid will now be reared by staff at the charity’s wildlife centre before she is old enough to be released back into the wild.
More on:
Posted On: 22/05/2020