Two cows and a calf were stuck on pillar of earth and had to be dug out by a farmer after hillside collapsed

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Two cows and a calf made famous worldwide after they were filmed stranded on a tiny pillar of land after the New Zealand earthquake have been rescued.

Pictures of the cattle were beamed around the world on Monday after a news crew flying over land devastated by the quake captured their plight.

Viewers called for a rescue mission to be mounted as quickly as possible.

Pacmanisover9000 (@mclean_trey) Please save the cows I don't think the nz people could take it if they die #eqnz

it me, ash 💁🏼 (@ashsparkle) Ok I will donate to any kickstarter that will rescue these poor sweet stranded cows who's with me #eqnz pic.twitter.com/idssGaAXTH

I. H. Laking (@IHLaking) If you think you're having a bad day, spare a thought for this family of cows trapped on an island in a NZ landslide:#EQNZ pic.twitter.com/NSmO7yjvgW

The happy news that the cattle had been saved came on Tuesday when Newshub reported that the farmer who owned them had used a pick and shovel to dig them out of their predicament.

The farmer said they were part of a larger group of 14 rescued from the paddock, which had been torn up by the quake.

Other livestock were not so lucky. “We did lose stock, there were stock losses, but the whole hillside fell during the earthquake and we had a lot of stock on there – we don’t know what we’ve got,” the unnamed man said.

The cattle had been given water and were safe, the farmer said.

Parts of the property, which lies on a fault line, had moved three metres, he said.