Animal saved from icy Estonian river turns out to be a wolf

This photo taken on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019 and released by the Estonian Union for the Protection of Animals, shows an approximately one-year old male wolf suffering from shock and hypothermia in an animal shelter near Parnu River, Estonia. Estonian construction workers got the shock of their lives when they found out the animal they saved from an icy river was not a dog but a wolf. (Estonian Union for the Protection of Animals via AP)

This photo taken on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019 and released by the Estonian Union for the Protection of Animals, shows an approximately one-year old male wolf suffering from shock and hypothermia in an animal shelter near Parnu River, Estonia. Estonian construction workers got the shock of their lives when they found out the animal they saved from an icy river was not a dog but a wolf. (Estonian Union for the Protection of Animals via AP)

HELSINKI (AP) — Estonian construction workers got the shock of their lives when they found out the animal they saved from an icy river was not a dog but a wolf.

Rando Kartsepp, Robin Sillamae and Erki Vali told the Postimees newspaper they were working at the Sindi dam on the frozen Parnu River in southwestern Estonia when they saw an animal frantically swimming in a maze of ice.

They rescued the ice-coated animal and took it to a shelter. A hunter told them it was about a one-year old male wolf suffering from shock and hypothermia.

The young wolf recovered after a day and was released back into the wild with a GPS collar.

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Estonia has an estimated 200 wolves. The grey wolf was voted Estonia’s national animal by nature organizations in 2018.