This is the incredible moment dozens of villagers team up to rescue a 200kg stranded swamp fish. <br /><br />The enormous Mekong giant catfish, a critically endangered species, had lived in marshes in coastal province Phatthalung, southern Thailand, since 1991, becoming a local legend.<br /><br />But heavy rains at the end of last month caused flooding in the region - washing the massive beast from its home into a tiny pond. <br /><br />The waters subsided and on Monday (11/12) morning and residents spotted the creature - nicknamed the ’swamp king’ by locals - frantically thrashing around in the shallow water. <br /><br />They banded together and used a giant net to haul the wild fish out of the water and onto a motorbike trailer before racing over two miles to return it to its original home. <br /><br />Footage captured the entire rescue - which took more than six hours - as they released the Pangasianodon species of catfish back into its original stretch of water during sunset. <br /><br />Resident Khun Sooktong, from the Phatthalung district, said: ‘’This is a natural fish that was left in the marshes of the village in 1991. We call it the swamp king. It’s like a monster. <br /><br />''At the end of November, continuing to the beginning of December this year, rain made the swamps overflow. There was more rain this year than ever before.<br /><br />‘’It’s expected that the fish escaped from one swamp and went into another, about three km from the village. <br /><br />''I found it on December 12 but at the time was not able to handle it. So on Monday a lot of people came to help and it took sixes hours to release the fish to its original home.’'
