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Fiona with her rescuers
Shutterstock.com (sheep wool); The Sheep Game (rescuers, Fiona)
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The Great Sheep Rescue
Jim McMahon/Mapman®
Fiona the sheep was stranded. On one side of her was the sea. On the other was a rocky slope that was too steep to climb. There was nowhere for Fiona to go. So she lived all alone at the bottom of a cliff on the eastern coast of Scotland. But that changed last November, when a group of farmers came to her rescue.
Fiona was first spotted by a kayaker in 2021. Two years later, the same kayaker was shocked to see that Fiona was still in the area.
The story of “Britain’s loneliest sheep” quickly spread online. Thousands of people called for Fiona’s rescue. But the Coast Guard and other groups said saving the sheep would be too risky. Despite the danger, five local farmers decided to give it a try.
Three of the farmers used ropes to carefully trek down to the base of the cliff. They found Fiona inside a cave. The rescue team was surprised by how heavy she was—about 200 pounds!
The Sheep Game
Fiona’s rescuers trimmed off about 19 pounds of the sheep’s matted wool.
The farmers wrapped Fiona in a large tarp attached to a rope. It was connected to an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) at the top of the cliff. As the ATV slowly backed up, it pulled Fiona up the slope. The men stayed with her to make sure she didn’t get injured. Finally, Fiona safely arrived at the top.
Today, she lives on a farm in Dumfries, Scotland, with other sheep to keep her company.
El gran rescate de la oveja
Fiona, la oveja, estaba varada. A un lado tenía el mar. Al otro, una ladera rocosa demasiado empinada para trepar. Fiona no tenía adónde ir. Así que vivía sola en el fondo de un acantilado de la costa este de Escocia. Pero eso cambió el pasado noviembre, cuando un grupo de granjeros acudió a su rescate.
Un kayakista avistó a Fiona por primera vez en 2021. Dos años después, el mismo kayakista se sorprendió al ver que Fiona seguía en la zona.
La historia de la “oveja más solitaria de Gran Bretaña” se difundió rápidamente en Internet. Miles de personas pidieron el rescate de Fiona. Pero la Guardia Costera y otros grupos dijeron que salvar a la oveja era demasiado arriesgado. A pesar del peligro, cinco granjeros locales decidieron intentarlo.
Tres de los granjeros usaron cuerdas para descender con cuidado hasta la base del acantilado. Encontraron a Fiona dentro de una cueva. El equipo de rescate se sorprendió de lo pesada que era, ¡unas 200 libras!
Los rescatadores de Fiona trasquilaron unas 19 libras de la lana enredada de la oveja.
Los granjeros envolvieron a Fiona en una gran lona atada a una cuerda. Estaba conectada a un vehículo todoterreno (VT) en la parte superior del acantilado. A medida que el VT retrocedía lentamente, tiraba de Fiona ladera arriba. Los hombres se quedaron a su lado para asegurarse de que no se lesionara. Finalmente, Fiona llegó sana y salva a la cima.
Hoy vive en una granja en Dumfries, Escocia, con otras ovejas que le hacen compañía. “La oveja más solitaria de Gran Bretaña ya no está sola”, dijo Cammy Wilson, organizador del rescate.