A buffalo was rescued after getting a pickup truck tire stuck around its waist.

The buffalo named ‘Boon Term’ had been left out to graze at a grassy enclosure in Uthai Thani province, northern Thailand, on October 13 before workers from a nearby car shop found it trapped with the tire around its midsection. The poor animal had trouble breathing as the rubber tire constricted its torso.

Mechanic Narakorn Thong-ngam said: ‘After releasing the buffalo to graze in the morning, we continued to work at the garage. I went looking for it at around five o’clock in the afternoon and I saw that there was something black attached to it.

‘I walked to take a closer look and saw that it was a large pickup truck tire.’

It is believed that the buffalo was stuck in one of the tires that garage workers had hung on trees for when they wanted to take naps.

Rescuers arrived bringing knives, saws, grinding stones, and steel scissors to cut the buffalo loose. It took around five hours to remove the tire due to its thick rims which were reinforced with steel wire.

Boon Term was seen laying down due to exhaustion after the operation. It bore tire marks around its torso, but appeared uninjured otherwise.