An extraordinary and beautiful story of humans helping animals took place recently in the air between Cyprus and Greece.

Two young rosy pelicans which had failed to complete their migration and became “stranded” on the island nation of Cyprus were transported by plane to Greece’s Kerkini Lake a few days ago.

The birds, who were accompanied on their flight by two representatives of the Fauna Department of the Interior Ministry of Cyprus, were released near the pelicans’ longtime resting spot, the islet of Lithotopos, in Kerkini.

“The rosy pelicans are migratory, gregarious birds and possibly the two pelicans were worn out by the journey because of their young age,” Theodoros Nazirides, the general coordinator of Lake Kerkini management agency, explained to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

”That’s why they were left behind, finding refuge on a small lake in Cyprus,” he explained.