Serbian authorities on Tuesday started evacuating nearly 200 animals that have been stranded on a river island for weeks and were facing hunger and cold as temperatures dropped across the country. The cows, calves and horses got stuck on Krcedinska Ada island in the Danube river after water levels rose sharply last month, blocking their way to the shore.

The weather was unseasonably warm in Serbia for weeks late last year, and the Danube had swollen due to the melting snow upstream. This week, a spate of snowy and freezing weather swept the Balkan region, leading to rescue operations.