Koala stops cyclists to ask for water as Australia’s heatwave and bush fires continue

South China Morning Post ^ | Published: 8:07pm, 28 Dec, 2019 Updated: 8:52pm, 28 Dec, 2019 | Staff

[Red Badger]

Thousands of koalas are believed to have died from the intense heat and bush fires gripping Australia

Meanwhile, the fire danger in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory has been upgraded to severe as temperatures rise

A desperate koala suffering in 40 degree-heat in Australia approached a group of cyclists to drink from a water bottle, according to media reports, as thousands of koalas are feared to have died from the intense heat and bush fires gripping the country, with the fire danger increasing on Saturday as temperatures soared.

The cyclists near Adelaide saw the koala in the middle of the road and when they stopped, the koala approached them, appearing to ask for water, Anna Heusler told local media on Friday.

[Red Badger]

Sounds like Florida in August...................

[Red Badger]

I know nothing of koalas.

Are they that tame that they would approach a human easily?

I cannot imagine any wild animal doing that!..........................

[Red Badger]

Like Eucalyptus........................

[N. Theknow]

How does the “roast Kaola” taste?

A lot like spotted owl and not as stringy as Bald Eagle.

[goldstategop]

No but they’re clearly are desperate with a shortage of water. Normally they get their requirements met by the eucalyptus leaves on which they feed but not this time.

Ecological naïveté isn’t surprising for apart from dingoes and red foxes, Australia has no big natural predators.

[N. Theknow]

Yes! But it’s a dry heat!

[Ann Archy]

Yes....they seemed very tame.

[null and void]

Yes! But it’s a dry heat!

That's what people say in Hell.

We also say it here in Reno.

Reno isn't Hell, but you can see Sparks from here...

[fireman15]

We were tandem bicycling in our big beautiful local park. There was a sign along the “5 mile” drive warning people not to feed the animals. Just past the sign there was a super cute raccoon standing on its hind legs partially in the road with its little hands out and staring at us with its big brown eyes. She looked like a character from Dickens saying, "Please Governor, my babies and I haven't eaten for 3 days."

My wife said that we should give her something. I replied that the cute little fur ball was a “plant” and there were rangers hiding in the trees waiting to give us a ticket.

[Red Badger]

The raccoon wasn’t a plant , it was bait.

There were bears hiding in the trees..................

[crusty old prospector]

If it was that hot, they wouldn’t be riding around in their biking hot pants in the middle of the day.

[Red Badger]

They are Aussies......................

[Boogieman]

I don’t know, but I would guess it’s gamey, with a hint of eucalyptus.

[fireman15]

We actually have a few bears around here. One of them started climbing up the big fir tree in our front yard and breaking off branches in the middle of the night. We thought that it was a big racoon until we found bear scat at the bottom of the tree. Then a few days later the bear decided to go for a walk through town and was relocated by animal control people.

[Cecily]

I believe koalas are pretty docile.

[mewzilla]

The Ashy-breasted Firecatcher.

[Red Badger]

Here in NW Florida we have bears all over the place. Even here at work!

The state game wardens used to trap them and move them out to the forests on Eglin AFB, but they came back.

They even tried moving them 500 miles away down south to a state forest, but they still come back.

Now they just euthanize the nuisance ones...............

[Deplorable American1776]

Asking? How did they ask? Do they speak Koalan? Or do they have a Cardboard saying: ‘Thirsty need water’

[doorgunner69]

Poor critter is losing more water than drinking.

[JimRed]

Walls of fire are only 2 on a 1-10 scale of dangerous things in Australia.

I heard they have 12 kinds of snakes; eleven of them are poisonous and the other one eats you whole!