Cows cast away by Hurricane Dorian returned to NC island

CAPE LOOKOUT, N.C. — The trio of castaway cows that were discovered on North Carolina's Outer Banks months after Hurricane Dorian have returned home.

Cape Lookout National Seashore officials think the stranded cows swam up to 5 miles to escape the storm surge before they were found near Cape Lookout earlier this month.

[ALSO READ: ‘Mini-tsunami' created by Hurricane Dorian drowns 28 horses on NC island]

The cows belong to a herd that roams freely on Cedar Island, across the sound. When Dorian generated an 8-foot “mini tsunami,” it washed them and dozens of other animals away, including 28 wild horses that died.

Seashore spokesman B.G. Horvat said the cows were grazing peacefully after a harrowing feat of survival, but they needed to go home.

Officials said national park staff partnered with Ranch Solutions and Morris Marina Ferry to round up the cattle and put them in a trailer.

It took two days to safely corral the cows, but after, they were loaded on a ferry and taken to the mainland.

Cape Lookout National Seashore Superintendent Jeff West said the three cows have been reunited with the rest of their herd and are roaming safely on Cedar Island.

"It took a lot of folks coming together to make this happen, and we are happy the cows made it home to Cedar Island," West told our news partner WCTI. "I am pretty sure they are too."

Associated Press