Footage shows a group of Buddhist monks freeing a pregnant cow they found trapped in thick mud in Thailand.

The religious devotees were hiking on a hill near the temple in Chiang Mai province when they came across the cow.

They realised that the cow's limbs were submerged in the muck that was starting to dry in the afternoon sun.

Once the rescuers dug out enough mud for the cow to move, they carried it out by tying its upper body to a rope attached to a bamboo pole.