Rescuers save ewe and lamb from Gwynedd cliff

Mountain rescuers were called to an unusual incident in north Wales after a ewe and her lamb were spotted stranded on cliffs above farmland in Snowdonia National Park.

Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation (OVMRO) said the alarm was raised by a local farmer who noticed the sheep on a steep cliff edge near his farm in in Dyffryn Ogwen, Gwynedd.

In a tongue-in-cheek social media post, the team joked that they had been alerted to “two walkers (believed to be from Baaath)”.

See also: Carmarthenshire cow rescued by firefighters

© OVMRO

With no obvious escape route for the animals and only limited information about their exact location, the rescue team prepared for a challenging operation.

Despite a low turnout, volunteers were mobilised to reach the base of the crag.

An OVMRO spokesman said: “With a low team turnout, the team leader bleated for more help and sheparded [sic] six team members to the base of the crag.”

Rescuers deployed ropes and raised one team member up towards the stranded sheep.

“Knowing our scared casualties would probably jump away from a descending rescuer, ropes were thrown down and Jed was raised up towards them,” the spokesman said.

Tense situation

The situation became tense when the lamb made a sudden move. “The youngest casualty did indeed jump some 2m into Jed’s arms and it was shear luck they were caught,” he added.

The ewe was rescued shortly afterwards. “Mum sensibly stayed where she was and was rescued not long after and she lambasted her offspring for jumping.”

Once safely back on solid ground, the pair quickly made their exit, with rescuers noting they “ran away without even a thank ewe”.