Two mystery cows found on a remote island in Australia
A family visiting Snapper Island, a national park island in Far North Queensland, Australia, found two eared-tagged Brahman cattle. Queensland's environment department is trying to trace the owner, and how the animals got there remains unclear.
Visitors to Snapper Island, an island within a national park in Far North Queensland, Australia, have discovered two Brahman cattle. The Australian news portal ABC reported the find, and German agricultural outlet agrarheute retold it on 30 October. It is not known how the animals reached the island or who owns them, so the Queensland environment department is trying to identify the owner.
Snapper Island is a tropical island popular for camping, fishing and birdwatching. It covers only about 66 hectares. Jayne Miller, who lives on the coast at Wonga Beach, went there on a family outing. She first heard a loud noise thundering down the hill and initially assumed it was a pig or a person. She then spotted a brown Brahman cow looking down at her from a ridge.
Help for the animals
Miller searched the family's supplies, took four litres of water and some feed, and went to the animal. A second cow then emerged from the bushes. She could see ear tags but no brand. She alerted park rangers straight away. On Monday the family brought water and molasses to the island, even though the cattle appeared healthy. The animals hid, and the search took almost an hour. Trampled grass and plenty of cow dung showed they were there.
How the cows got there
Miller suggests the animals were swept out to sea in a major flood in March and made it to the island by getting past crocodiles. She thinks they may be near a freshwater spring high in the forest. Getting them off could be difficult because the area is hard to reach, and some knowledge of cattle would be needed to lure them to a spot where a boat could collect them.
