The INCREDIBLE moment cowboy lassoes escaped cow on US freeway

A cowboy has wrangled a runaway cow that escaped onto a US freeway, using a lasso to take her off the Michigan interstate.

Officers at Michigan State Police were on hand to take the cow off the busy road but relied on the help of cowboys after the creature "outsmarted" its adversaries.

In a thread on Twitter, officers explained the events that unfolded on Interstate 75 (I-75) and showed the moment the cow was lassoed.

"The wranglers were on the shoulder of I-75 with horses and four-wheelers when they attempted to capture the suspect bovine but were unsuccessful in their attempts," Michigan State Police tweeted.

"The cow managed to outsmart its advisories (sic), and entered the northbound lanes of I-75. The wranglers chased the cow with four-wheelers, horses, and lassos across all lanes of travel."

The police added that "eventually after much tomfoolery, the critter was captured and removed from the freeway" and the highway was swiftly reopened to traffic.

Taken from police dashcam footage, the video shows the cow running from the verge on to the highway before a wrangler donning a white cowboy hat rode his horse in pursuit.

Cars were moving at speed past the cow but the cowboy lassoed the animal and police guided her to green pastures.

The animal was initially stuck on a gravel pit by the road but a team of wranglers "comparable to the cast of Yellowstone" could not wrangle the cow, police said on Twitter.

Michigan State Police joked that the cow has not been charged and "is back in the pasture with a story to tell all the other livestock".