Marcel and Melissa were visiting Kangaroo Island, Australia, when they found a koala who needed their help! They were driving through a burned forest area and came across a koala who was all alone and ran into the middle of the street. When they pulled over and got out of their car, the koala came straight up to greet them. If it weren’t for Marcel and Melissa, this poor koala would probably not have survived due to a food shortage.
They decided to put him in the car and bring him to a local animal hospital to ensure his survival. After finding out that the hospital was closed, they decided to bring him back to their campsite and find a local who could help.
They made sure to grab some Eucalyptus leaves so he would have a snack for the drive. Once they arrived at the campsite, locals examined the koala and determined that he didn’t have any burns and looked like he was in pretty good shape.
However, the couple could tell that he looked sad and didn’t want to be left alone, so the next day, they brought him to an animal hospital, where they watched over him until it was safe for him to be released back into the wild.
Tragically, according to a Reuters report, Australia has lost nearly a third of its Koalas in the past three years alone. The reason? Ten years of drought, massive brushfires in 2019 and 2020, and of course human development.
Unsurprisingly, every region shows declines in Koala populations, and some regions are left with as few as 5–10 Koalas total. The NSW Koala population is now officially listed as an endangered species.
Lead Image Source : The Dodo/YouTube. This article by Holly Woodbury was first published by OneGreenPlanet on 12 July 2022.
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