A DRASTIC plan to save the world's loneliest sheep has been revealed after the animal was stranded on a tiny rock island for two years.
A hovercraft company has offered to fly in help to rescue the ewe trapped on a remote beach along Scotland's north-east coast.
There have been fears the sheep – believed to have been there since 2001 – could not be reached by dinghy or boat due to hazardous rocky conditions near Balintore.
And animal welfare experts at the Scottish SPCA have warned any attempted intervention would be "incredible complex".
Concerns have also been raised that the sheep is now so overgrown it can hardly stand.
But now a possible solution has been suggested by the British Hovercraft Company which says it could fly in to pick up the sheep.
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The firm's chief hovercraft pilot Benn Bristow said: "There's quite a few rocks and stuff in the way, that’s why boats can’t get anywhere near it.
"By the look of it the hovercraft will fly straight over the top so we can get someone directly to where the sheep is located.
“We’re used to navigating in difficult terrain and looking in places where people wouldn’t normally get to – marshland, etc.
"Anywhere a boat can’t go and anywhere a person can’t walk, a hovercraft can go.”
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The company is now seeking funding the operation, which could send crew on a 1,400-mile round trip – and in what would be their first animal rescue mission.
Officials also say they would need to take along a vet to assess the sheep's welfare before they loaded it on to the hovercraft to be flown back to safety.
But worsening weather conditions amid Storm Ciarán mean they have limited time to act, they added.
Jillian Turner first spotted the animal while kayaking from Balintore to Nigg in 2021 – and was taken aback when returning this year to see it was still in the same place.
She said: "Her fleece on the first occasion was a normal year’s growth – however, on the recent trip the fleece was huge and touching the ground at the back.
“The poor ewe has been on her own for at least two years – for a flock animal that has to be torture.
"She seemed desperate to make contact with us on the two occasions we’ve gone past her."
It is understood a farmer previously looked into rescue options, while drones have been sent into the area to check on the ewe's welfare.
A local boat skipper suggested: "There are several caves in that area and it is believed it shelters in at least one of them – that would explain how it has survived.
"It is astonishing that it has made it through all weathers and in that exposed place – sheltering in a cave would explain it."
Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said the charity was aware of the sheep being stranded at the bottom of a cliff.
He said: "The sheep has ample grazing in the area but we have not been able to ascertain who the sheep belongs to.
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"We will continue to have further checks when the weather allows and it is safe to do so."
Locals have been urged not to risk their welfare by trying to rescue the ewe themselves.
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