Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Wildlife Rescue topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Aurora firefighter Jonas Cybulski pulls fawn from Fox River near downtown dam
Summary
An Aurora Fire Department water-rescue team member said he and colleagues launched a boat, intercepted a fawn being swept toward a dam on the Fox River in Downtown Aurora, and pulled the animal into the boat; a wildlife rehabilitation team later named the fawn Jonas.
An Aurora firefighter recounted rescuing a fawn that had been swept into the Fox River near a dam in Downtown Aurora, describing a tense attempt that ended with the animal safe and transferred to wildlife rehabilitators.
Jonas Cybulski, a member of the Aurora Fire Department water-rescue team, said Aurora Animal Control called responders to the river. "We devised a plan and decided that we needed to launch a boat," Cybulski said. He and a partner, together with an Aurora Animal Control staff member, rode up the river to reach a fawn that was hunkered in weeds and appeared to be in distress.
Cybulski said the rescue was complicated by the animal's behavior and by a dam just north of the fawn's location. "The fawn started running towards the dam and got very close to it and even got swept into one of the boils before the dam spit it out," he said, describing how the current nearly trapped the animal. When the fawn swam toward the middle of the river, Cybulski said rescuers used the opportunity to approach and he was able to reach out, grab the animal and pull it into the boat.
"I had a sense of relief for sure," Cybulski said. He said he wrapped the fawn tightly in his arms and legs to keep it from thrashing and to protect both the crew and the animal. Cybulski added that the team was concerned the fawn, which had been in the water for some time, could become fatigued and drown if they missed the rescue window.
When asked about the fawn's mother, Cybulski said there were no signs of her at the scene and that he had "heard reports" the animal may have been swept into the river through a drainage or sewer pipe; he presented that as unverified information. The host said the fawn is now in the care of a wildlife rehabilitation team and reported that the staff named the animal Jonas. "It's a pretty cool story," Cybulski said, and added that, as a firefighter, "our number one priority is saving lives, whether that is human or animal lives."
The segment closed with the host thanking Cybulski for the rescue. The fawn's long-term outcome beyond transfer to rehabilitation was not specified in the interview.
