CHARLOTTE, N.C. Cape Lookout National Seashore on the Outer Banks has discovered three cows roaming the national park, and it is believed they got there by swimming four to five miles across the Core Sound during Hurricane Dorian.
The cows were on Cedar Island when the hurricane generated a mini tsunami on Sept. 6, sweeping much of the wildlife off the island, including 28 wild horses that perished, officials say.
Cape Lookout Spokesman B.G. Horvat told McClatchy news group park staff spotted the first cow on the North Core barrier island about a month after the storm. The others revealed themselves in the past two weeks, and the trio are now grazing peacefully together on federal grass, he said.
Horvat believes they survived the amazing trip pushed by storm surge. Any farther, and theyd have drifted into the Atlantic, which happened to some of the wild horses that died.
Ill say its about 4 miles across Core Sound, Horvat told McClatchy in an email. Remember, the cows and all the horses were swept away with the water surging back. Who knows exactly, but the cows certainly have a gripping story to share.
Horvat speculates the cows will have to be sedated and taken back to Cedar Island by boat.
The cattle affectionately known as sea cows along the coast are part of a wild herd co-managed by Woody Hancock, who told McClatchy he is working on a plan to get the trio back.
National Park Service officials said Tuesday they have given him 30 days. After the 30 days, the park will have to deal with it. Im not sure what the plan would be if the park deals with it, Horvat told McClatchy.
Hancock believes the cows were swept away when 8-foot waves made landfall in North Carolina.
