Crews rescue ostrich injured in fall into Illinois ravine
O'FALLON, Ill. (AP) - An ostrich that escaped from a southwestern Illinois farm was rescued after the 300-pound (136-kilogram) bird fell into a ravine and was injured, fire officials said.
A veterinarian tranquilized the ostrich before four members of a fire rescue crew entered the ravine near O'Fallon and strapped the bird to a board before it was hauled from the ravine Monday evening using a pulley system.
O'Fallon Fire Chief Brad White said the ostrich had fallen about 15 feet (4.6 meters) into the ravine and suffered a long neck laceration that caused it to lose 'œa good amount'ť of blood.
After its rescue, the ostrich was treated by the veterinarian and returned to its owners at a nearby farm, White told the Belleville News-Democrat. The bird's owners have about a dozen ostriches that they raise as meat for people who have Lyme disease and cannot consume red meat, he said.
Capt. Tim Claxton said the ostrich rescue was something new for O'Fallon's fire department.
'œWe've had to get a goat out of a muddy lake before. Things like this happen once in awhile, but I've never seen an ostrich before," he said.
O'Fallon is 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of St. Louis.