Woman Rescues Badly Burnt Koala From New South Wales Bushfires

A daring rescue was captured on video when a woman pulled a badly burned and wailing koala from a bushfire in New South Wales.

The marsupial was cross the road which had erupted in flames near Long Flat when it was spotted a passer-by. She ran and wrapped the animal in her shirt and poured water all over it.

The woman claimed the koala went straight into the flames, and she responded by jumping out of her vehicle to save him.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service said that 49 brush and grass fires were burning across the state where Sydney is located. Of the blazes burning, 25 of them have yet to be contained.

The agency tweeted that firefighters are going to work overnight to undertake important back-burning to protect properties ahead of the worsening fire conditions.

Toni Doherty was in the area when she saw the koala dubbed Lewis after one of her grandchildren.

She claimed she took the injured animal to the nearby Port Macquarie koala hospital for treatment. He is being closely monitored by staff after he sustained some severe burns.

The spokesperson for the hospital told the news outlet the marsupial's feet are completely burnt, and he has other burns to the chest and stomach. His injuries are severe to the point he may not be allowed back into the wild should he survive.

The spokesperson said it is probably 50-50 whether he is going to live.

If the koala survives his injuries, he is going to be one of the lucky ones. Officials fear that the country’s koala populations have been one of the primary victims of the bushfires as 350 of the marsupials are estimated dead thus far.

Port Macquarie hospital has been flooded with injured animals in desperate need of assistance. As well as taking in an influx of the injured koalas, the hospital has been using donations for rolling out several drinking stations across the affected areas in the hopes it would provide the wildlife with a fighting chance.

The koalas tend to climb high into the trees during wildfires, and they may survive if the fire passes quickly below them. In the wake of the blazes, several animal-rescue teams have been fanning out to try and find the koalas which could have been injured.

A cattle dog crossbreed called Bear has been assisting animal rescuers by sniffing out the koalas within the forests.

However, there are several wildfires that are burning out of control in the South Australia state.