Police in Dege County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, rescued three white-lipped deer, a first-class protected species, after they became trapped and exhausted in an ice hole on the Yalong River. Officers and villagers used logs and ropes, then entered the near-freezing water to pull the animals ashore and dry them off. One deer was released immediately, while the remaining two were briefly cared for in a nearby home before being returned to the wild.