Tourist helps free tangled cow at roadside in Tonga

Vava'u Island in Tonga is incredibly beautiful, and visiting here is often described as stepping back in time. Tonga is a Polynesian Kingdom of 169 islands south of Fiji, of which 36 are inhabited. Life here is simple and straightforward. There are a total of 100,000 Tongan citizens. Their main employment comes from tourism, specifically whale watching and sailing enthusiasts who shelter in the harbors and buy food and supplies. Residents also work in construction during the off season.Show more

Many of the people here are farmers and they feed their families in the traditional manner of raising various livestock on small properties with natural and uncultivated landscape. It is common to see pigs, chickens, cows and horses wandering on a front lawn or empty lot covered in brush. With a lack of fencing, cows and horses are often tied to a stake in the ground or a tree at the side of the road. While this presents obvious problems, there simply isn't a better option for many as they struggle with typical third world conditions and a lack of resources.

This unfortunate cow had been left tied to a tree with a length of rope approximately 7 meters long (20 feet). It had become tangled around another tree and the rope was so tightly wrapped that the poor cow could barely lift its head. It had no access to grass and it had trampled the dirt showing that it had been going around the tree for hours before becoming hopelessly tangled.

There was no farmer nearby and nobody to help the distressed beast. A tourist, arriving from Canada saw the cow as he took a taxi from the airport to the small lodge where he was spending his holiday. The taxi driver did not understand the request to stop, or the need to intervene and this visitor watched helplessly as they continued past, leaving the cow on her own. After arriving at his destination, he decided to walk back a few miles to see if there was something that he could do. The cow was not trusting of this stranger and she did not want him to approach her and untangle the rope. He decided to walk around the tree and keep her moving in the proper direction to unwind the rope. After a few minutes of circling, the cow was untangled and the Canadian guest was happy. The cow was last seen happily munching on the grass that had been out of reach.