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CAVERS RESCUE COW FROM WAITOMO CAVES(New Zealand Press Association Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)(pix available at www.nzpaimages.co.nz) Wellington, March 8 NZPA - A cow which fell down a steep shaft in the Waitomo Caves was rescued on Tuesday after a six-hour operation involving a harness, a lot of grunt and a dedicated rescue team. Wellington Caving Group member Bob Wellington, of Paraparaumu, said a chance call from a farm manager on Sunday led to the three day-long rescue of Cow No 139 -- including preparation time, planning and the actual rescue itself. Mr Wellington was completing a cave rescue exercise at Piopio, near Waitomo, when a phone call from his wife alerted him to a nearby farm manager who had heard a cow bellowing from the bottom of a 30 metre cave. Farm manager Colin Gray had been out on his Waitoru farm when he found the cow. Alive but thin it was not known how long the cow had been there but Mr Wellington said when he visited the cave it was clear she was ``pretty banged-up''. Mr Gray discussed with Mr Wellington whether the Friesian black- and-white cow -- about three years old -- would be able to be rescued or whether it would have to be put down. ``We're talking 400 kilos plus of cow, so it was a fairly big mass to move in that situation.'' Mr Wellington returned home that evening and on Monday he contacted fellow cave group member and farmer Mark Phillips, of Moonshine Valley, near Upper Hutt, and discussed whether a rescue of the cow was possible. Both men decided it was worth a try and headed back to the farm on Monday evening where Mr Gray and another farm worker, Ron Younger, prepared to help with the rescue. Mr Phillips' farm knowledge was invaluable as he had supplied a cradle which he had used on his farm for hoisting cows -- however it was untested for such a situation -- and his stock knowledge also kept the cow calm, he said. At 8am on Tuesday the group drove back to the cave -- located about 6 kilometres from the farm. Mr Gray had visited the cow in the interim to check on her but the decision had been made not to feed her because of the problems it may have caused, although the cow had access to a nearby stream for water. During the rescue she was feed cow nuts, he said. Mr Phillips, Mr Gray and Mr Younger went into the cave to be with the cow while Mr Wellington remained above ground, fetching equipment, helping with light and being exposed to the intermittent rain. A first attempt ended badly with the cow landing heavily in a muddy area up to her belly, he said. A second attempt to haul her to the surface proved to be successful but took over two hours to complete, including breaks for both the rescuers and to ease the cow's trauma, he said. When she finally reached the surface she was restrained for a few moments while the equipment was removed and was grazing grass within minutes, he said. ``Two and half hours later she was back with the herd she had been separated from.'' The cow seemed to have escaped the fall with only a few grazes, he said. ``We were elated with the rescue and really we had thought we would be hauling a carcass up so the stream would not be polluted.'' The cow may have also been pregnant as the herd she had been with had been due to be given pregnancy tests and if so would have been valued about $1100, he said. ``But we did it for the humanity not for what her monetary value was,'' Mr Wellington said. The tale was so ``moo-tastic'' Mr Wellington said he was considering turning the story into a child's book after another remarkable cow story was successfully published. Woodville dairy farmer Kim Riley wrote Cow Power in 2004 about the cow that rescued Mrs Riley from the treacherous Manawatu floodwaters in February 2004 . NZPA WGT bmc kk ob |