A kid goat has been rescued from the side of a cliff at Cheddar Gorge.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service and RSPCA officers reunited the tiny goat with his mother after they were separated from each other for two days.
A member of the public contacted the RSPCA after hearing the goat’s ‘haunting’ cries down the gorge and spotting him stuck on a ledge 60ft above the ground.
The charity hoped the goat could free himself and rejoin his family.
However, rescuers had to intervene after he could still be heard crying for his mother two days later.
A team of animal rescuers and specialist firefighters began their mission to reunite the pair, and the teams safely rescued the animal on April 9.
RSPCA animal collection officer, Clara Scully, said: “The rescue was a fantastic effort by all involved and we are so grateful to the firefighters for rescuing this poor goat and to the member of public who spotted him and helped to release him back to his mum.
“We suspect the kid goat had been chased up the gorge and that’s how he ended up stuck on the ledge and separated from his mother.
“He was standing on a tiny ledge and had been there for a while, so he was struggling to get down by himself.”
The popular tourist attraction is home to a number of feral goats and soay sheep, which were introduced in the 1990s to the gorge to maintain grazing levels and promote the growth of wild flowers.
The charity has since launched an appeal to continue to rescue and care for animals at its centres during the coronavirus pandemic.
It costs around £1,000 a day to run the RSPCA North Somerset Branch, which has lost out on vital donations as a result of Government lockdown restrictions, forcing the charity to cancel fundraising events.
A spokesman for RSPCA said: “As a charity, we’ve always relied on the generosity of kind supporters to enable us to do the work that we do, and now more than ever, we need your help.
“The truth is, we couldn’t rescue the animals that we do without your kind support.”
To donate to RSPCA North Somerset, visit www.facebook.com/donate/313002426339080/1441539656018678/
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