Seagull stuck in mud sparks emergency when rescuer ends up sinking herself

Two fire engines, 12 firefighters and paramedics were on standby to help the zoo keeper who had suffered the same fate as the stricken gull and became stuck in the thigh-deep mud. The keeper, from Newquay Zoo, in Cornwall had waded into the empty, dredged Trenance Boating Lake in the town in a bid to rescue the bird without realising how treacherous the mud was.

A member of the public had alerted the RSPCA to the plight of the gull but they were unable to help and Newquay Zoo decided to step in - quite literally. Scott Brown, crew manager at Newquay Fire Station, said that the keeper was attempting to retrieve the bird. "Exactly the same thing happened to her as the sea gull," he said.

"Initially she was stuck with one leg and then the second and started sinking," he said. "She wasn't injured, she was compos mentis. She was quite embarrassed by the situation - she had a few colleagues come down with cameras."



A fire engine from Newquay, and one from nearby St Column attended and the crew requested that a special inflatable rescue path was brought from Bodkin, about 20 miles away but decided they had to act fast as the woman was sinking further.

"There was a makeshift sort of a ladder platform which we made with a ladder and some salvage sheets," he said. We didn't actually commit anyone to the lake itself in case they got stuck. She managed to free herself through the platform."

The keeper managed to retrieve the bird at the same time as freeing herself from the mud. A spokesperson from Newquay Zoo said that the keeper, who was wearing wellies had thought it was fine to wade in before realising how deep the mud was. She added that the bird had to be put down.