DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Volunteer firefighters and local residents used a couple of canoes and a tow strap to rescue a 650-pound moose from an icy northeastern Minnesota lake.

The rescuers, wearing life jackets, pulled the canoes behind them on the ice as they approached the moose Monday on Hungry Jack Lake along the Gunflint Shore. Hungry Jack Outfitters owner David Seaton tells Minnesota Public Radio News that by the time they reached the moose calf, she was exhausted and wasn’t struggling anymore. The rescuers slipped the tow strap around her neck and pulled her up onto the ice, only to see her break through again.

Seaton says after they pulled the moose out of the water a second time, she eventually made her way to shore. State natural resources officials say there are about 3,700 moose in northeastern Minnesota, down from around 9,000 in 2006.

By — Haydee Clotter