Thirsty koalas desperate for water hailing down passers-by in Australia

[Bluebear]

Here's an unexpected moment shared with a weaning koala clearly suffering in the heatwave.

It was early evening on a day when finally we had some relief from the heat of the middle of the day when the (young koala) displayed his new skill of hailing cyclists and sharing their drink bottles with them.



The photo of the koala bathing was taken in Maude in the Mid North of South Australia.

The koala came to the back porch looking for relief, the lady of the house put out the basin and the koala promptly sat itself in the water.

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To donate to the Australian Koala Foundation ("the largest organization in the world devoted to preserving this species’ habitat and food source."), see:

https://www.savethekoala.com/donatesupport.html

"No tree, no me!" is their motto.

[Delphinus]

1. Thank goodness the

kind-hearted people of Australia are helping the animal kingdom out.

[truedelphi]

2. Oh the poor little guys.

Maybe someone could send me half a dozen - california ia overrun with Eucalyptus so they would have plenty to eat here.

But where I live, this year all the pear orchard owners are ripping out their orchards to plant vineyards. the predicted loss of wildlife habitat is staggering.

One sports writer laments that each year California deer lose 15% of their population to habitat loss. And that is not taking into account the loss of life to rabbits, reptiles, birds, badgers, coons, skunks, wolf, coyote, bobcat etc.

When I think of Australia's water shortage, I think about how the major rain forests in Malaysia and the Indian peninsula have been torn apart to answer the West's desire for gorgeous hardwood furniture. ONce that area became barren, the wind moving to Australia could not bring with it the water created from those forests.

[Gregorian]

4. Argh! Now Lake County is getting into the stupidity?

God I remember when one could buy Lake county for nothing. I hate vineyards. BOOOO! There is one upside. Vineyards beat housing developments.

Now where's my koala? They look quite huggable. Poor babies.

I caught a mouse yesterday and then fed him cheese. That's my story.

[robinlynne]

15. great story!

[truedelphi]

18. Lucky little mouse.

Up until around 2001, a person could buy here in Lake County for just a fraction of what they would pay in other areas of the state. And you would get the cleanest air in the world to boot.

The economic crisis is pushing prices on homes back to what they were six years ago. So that is an upside for anyone who has a job and didn't fall for the hoopla during the housing crisis.

[lumberjack_jeff]

27. What a coincidence! I caught a mouse by feeding him cheese.

That's my story, although it's not such a happy ending for the mouse.

[Bryn]

37. Hugs!

:hug:

[carlyhippy]

3. The poor little fellas

I wish they could send me a few of them

[msongs]

6. here's a few more pics...

http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2601013236/m/3041098927

Msongs

[EFerrari]

5. Omg.

:(

[Qanisqineq]

7. I was wondering what animals were being affected by the fires

That is so sad. Poor little koalas.

[Big Blue Marble]

32. This morning,

I read that over one million animals have been killed by the fires, cats and dogs left behind, farm animals,
and wild animals, too. This is a tragedy to large to contemplate.

[Fire1]

8. What next?? This is terrible, just terrible.

[chill_wind]

9. ! ! Sad. :-(

[jberryhill]

10. That's highly unusual

Koalas don't drink much, and generally get most of their hydration from the eucalyptus leaves they eat.

They are also not the most active animals - they sleep 19 hours a day, and during the time they are awake, they spend a lot of time "resting".

I hope they are careful with the bottles - chlamydia is epidemic among koalas.

[rvablue]

12. Well, unless the bikers have chlamydia, I think they would be safe

plus they are known to be such timid and lethargic animals, that if they are approaching humans looking for water, they must be a little desperate for it.

These pics are so adorable.....almost surreal....they are such neat little creatures!

[jberryhill]

26. I wonder what the biker intends to do with the bottle...

...after the koala has used it.

But approaching people is just bizarre for koalas. At wildlife centers and zoos where visitors are allowed to handle koalas, Australian regulations limit that sort of activity to 1/2 per day per koala, because it stresses them out.

[Eryemil]

34. Anthropomorphising much? I bet not half as many of you would care if...

...it were something "ugly".

But I suppose I'm a bit bitter, considering I worked with animals for so long.
No one cares about the ugly things. There's a reason they always use the fuzzballs in order to garner sympathy.

[Eryemil]

35. Fuck, how did this end here? Sorry!

[Lady-Damai]

17. WHAT! Chlamydia?! Wow...interesting info. n/t

[amborin]

11. and they're usually pretty timid too, aren't they?

[Skittles]

19. I believe they are pretty bad-tempered

[lebkuchen]

13. video of volunteer fire fighter giving 3 bottles of water to a koala

http://player.video.news.com.au/heraldsun/#Reay9LDBRJjZcvLwFEDVTVmNzvM39fBl

[Beacool]

16. Awwww, the poor little guy!!!!

It's so sad what's happening in Australia. My heart goes out to them!!!

:(

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

22. I'm blubbering here. That lucky "baby" and that wonderful fire fighter. Thanks for posting this.

[Solly Mack]

42. Here Sam is with her little paws wrapped

http://player.video.news.com.au/heraldsun/#V4esPf6sRxzBIFA205tBPrth73o9xXR8

:)

[Tinksrival]

40. Here's a pick for those who can't play the video

[blaze]

41. My thanks to fire fighters everywhere! n/t

[xchrom]

14. think about that -- they are approaching bikers for water. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. Incredibly intelligent animals, aren't they?

[Hissyspit]

28. Most animals are more intelligent than people know.

Which makes us less intelligent than we think we are.

Or something.

[Jamastiene]

33. In some ways, they are more intelligent than us.

They learn our language. They know what our habits are. They adapt to our environment better than we can adapt to their environment. They outsmart us when they are pets and it's medicine time. They know how to get us to share our most favorite food with them. I'd say they are a tad bit smarter than us on quite a few levels. :)

[Starry Messenger]

21. Poor little guys.

:( They must be really desperate to approach humans like that.

[BlooInBloo]

24. Yup.

[roguevalley]

29. sweet god. what a cute little baby. :(

[BlooInBloo]

31. "I iz not any happier about this than you are!"

Is what I'm thinking he's thinking. :)

[Bryn]

38. Oh, my baby!

:loveya:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

23. This is so incredible that these beautiful wild babies know to ask for help from humans.

This thread has me in tears...gotta hug my kitties now and a hug to you too Bluebear :hug:

[Bluebear]

30. Back at you

:hug:

Bless the beasts...

[GCP]

25. We'll never know how many animals were killed by those awful fires

Many many more than the human toll. Poor, poor things.

[hedgehog]

36. I wonder if the koalas are teaching each other where to get water.

Something like the Japanese snow monkeys that take baths in the hot springs.

[Elidor]

39. I thought their motto was

A koala bear eats roots shoots and leaves.

:evilgrin: