A sheep stuck in muddy silt in New Zealand was rescued with the use of a digger -- and the rescue was caught on camera.

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Zoe Richardson, whose parents own Waitawhiti Station in eastern Wairarapa, said she and her brother were surveying the damage from the recent Cyclone Gabrielle when she spotted a ewe trapped in deep silt.

"I tried to help her out and then I ended up getting stuck in all the way up to my knees," Richardson told the New Zealand Herald.

Richardson was able to extract herself from the silt and sought help from her brother, Charlie, who was using a digger to create culverts nearby.

Richardson recorded video while her brother scooped up the sheep in the digger's shovel.

"I expected him to dig a culvert but instead he just really delicately picked her up," she said.

She said the sheep was not injured.

"She's back in her paddock where she needs to be," Richardson told One News.