Footage has emerged from Australia showing a desperately dehydrated koala bear flagging down a cyclist for help.
Anna Heuseler had been cycling towards Adelaide as part of a group on Friday, December 20 when they spotted the thirsty koala sitting in the middle of the road.
The temperatures had reached 40C, and the poor creature was clearly suffering. Fortunately, he appeared to understand he had come across friends and scurried over to the group of cyclists.
In the video, the little koala can be seen clambering onto Anna’s bike and taking big gulps of water from her flask.
Sharing the footage on Instagram, Anna wrote:
This Koala walked right up to me as I was descending and climbed up onto my bike while I gave him water. BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO ME ON A RIDE EVER.
Anna’s followers quickly fell in love with the sweet koala, with many expressing dismay at the challenges facing the species as a result of rising temperatures and the ongoing bushfire crisis.
One person commented, ‘You are a good person in the world’, while another remarked, ‘What a truly kind person you are… just wonderful watching this video’.
Speaking with 7News, Anna said it wasn’t uncommon to spot koalas out in the bushland, however she had been surprised by this particular animal’s reaction:
We’ve seen literally hundreds of koalas over the years, we have never seen a koala do this. We were descending from Norton Summit Road back into the city early this morning and we came around a bend and there was a koala sitting in the middle of the road.
Naturally, we stopped because we were going to help relocate him off the road.
Anna continued:
I stopped on my bike and he walked right up to me, quite quickly for a koala, and as I was giving him a drink from all our water bottles, he actually climbed up onto my bike.
None of us have ever seen anything like it.
Fortunately, this koala had not been hurt in the bushfires that have left many parts of the region devastated, and was reportedly carefully escorted back into the shelter of nearby trees.
A code red was declared throughout South Australia on the very same day this footage was captured, with soaring temperatures taking a particular toll on the state’s homeless population.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via story@unilad.com
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.