More than 300 roe deer were saved from frozen lakes in Novosibirsk region in Russia recently, according to the local Ministry of Nature.

Animals couldn't walk on the slippery surface of icy water bodies during their migration, which started a couple of months earlier this year.

Siberian roe deer usually migrate from the highlands of the neighbouring Altai regions in January when the snow gets too deep for them there.

Frozen lakes and rivers are also covered with snow in the Novosibirsk region by then, and the artiodactyls can easily move through.

Fishers in the Karasuk district found about 30 trapped animals last week on the ice at Lake Chernoye.

Men carried the 40-kilogram animals on their shoulders and sledges to the nearest shore, which was challenging, as the roe deer actively resisted, even bit and kicked.

One of the fishers, Ilya Zaitsev, filmed the rescue operation and posted on his YouTube channel.

"To be honest, it is a very terrible sight. They are lying and screaming. Those that are sitting are fine, but I can see a lying one, it is most likely dead," Zaitsev said.

The local Ministry of Nature reported that Emergency Ministry workers also used a hovercraft to save the trapped herd and confirmed that not all roe deers survived, but the majority did.