The moment a wolf is rescued from a canal in northern Italy

Firefighters rescued a wolf that fell into a canal in the town of San Giovanni Lupatoto in the Veneto region of northern Italy.

The stricken animal had taken shelter from the running water under a footbridge before the fire brigade’s river rescue team arrived to rescue it.

After moving it to land, firefighters handed the sedated female wolf to a veterinarian for care before it is expected to be released into the wild.

The Italian wolf is a protected species in the country. According to the latest official survey conducted in 2021, an estimated 950 people live in the Italian Alps region and more than 3,000 nationwide.