A deer was rescued after being stranded swimming in the middle of a reservoir in Thailand.

Footage shows the animal struggling to stay afloat while trying to reach the shore before a kind fisherman paddled nearby to guide it to safety in Chonburi province on February 22.

The 100kg hoofed mammal was seen jumping into the water to reach the other side of Nong Kho reservoir in the morning.

However, more than half an hour had passed but the animal still had not reached the other side and appeared to be struggling in the water.

Onlookers worried that the confused deer would drown if it continued to stay in the water so they thought of guiding it to reach land.

Local fisherman Nares Nranan, 55, hopped on his makeshift boat and paddled towards the deer.

The kind local, who wore a life vest, tried to guide the animal back to the shore by chasing it away.

As the boat was seen approaching, the animal swam away from it until safely reached the land.

Speaking after the rescue, Nares said he thought the deer was a crocodile but later realised it was a mammal stranded in the water.

He said: ‘We realised it was a deer after seeing it clearly by zooming in with a camera. It appeared confused and did not know what to do so I helped it.’

The deer disappeared back into the forest while people cheered for the heroic fisherman.