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A group of Estonian workers rescued a struggling dog from a frozen river - only to discover the animal was actually a wolf.

The men were working on the the Sindi damn on the Parnu river when they the spotted the trapped animal on the icy water, local news reported .

The quick-thinking workers cleared a path through the ice and pulled the stricken animal from the river.

Much to their amazement, they discovered that what they thought was a canine was in fact a wild wolf.

The terrified creature, left exhausted from its ordeal, did not attempt to resist its rescuers and not not behave aggressively.

One of the men said: "We had to carry him over the slope. He weighed a fair bit."

(Image: EUPA) (Image: EUPA)

"He was calm, slept on my legs. When I wanted to stretch them, he raised his head for a moment," he added.

A trip to the animal clinic confirmed that the animal was a young male wolf and believed to be around a year old.

Vet Tarvo Markson added that it was fortunate that the potentially dangerous animal wasn't an older specimen.

(Image: EUPA)

He said: "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”.

The wolf was released back into the wild today after experts gave it a clean bill of health.

The country's Environmental Agency (EUPA) planned to fit the wolf with a radio tracker to keep a tab on its whereabouts.

(Image: EUPA) (Image: EUPA)

"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 said.

Estonia is believed to be home to hundreds of wolves which typically avoid the presence of humans.