Sam Gets a Drink

By Miss Cellania in Animals & Pets on Feb 11, 2009 at 10:27 am

Koalas in the wild will normally have nothing to do with humans. The devastating fires in Australia are an extraordinary situation, which drove a little female koala named Sam to seek help from a firefighter. A picture taken of the event has made Sam an international star. Firefighter David Tree tells the story.

“I could see she had sore feet and was in trouble, so I pulled over the fire truck. She just plonked herself down, as if to say ‘I’m beat’,” he said.

“I offered her a drink and she drank three bottles.

“The most amazing part was when she grabbed my hand. I will never forget that.”

Sam now lives at the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter, where she was treated for burned paws. She is expected to recover and could be released back into the wild in about five months. Link -Thanks, Larfin Jackarse!

(image credit: Mark Pardew)

Tags: koala, wildfire

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Justin
Feb 11th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I really hope they find out who set these fires. I can’t believe someone would maliciously start a wild fire.
Gauldar
Feb 11th, 2009 at 10:54 am
There’s rumours flying around about Islam declaring a “forest jihad”, but I think that’s just a cry for help from those self righteous attention deprived fools. Thing is right now during the summer season it’s possible for fires to happen naturally, but given the situation it’s an ideal situation for initiated fires to start too. There is a large supply of stupid teenagers so it’s not unreasonable to point fingers there too.
Leela
Feb 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
This is a truly beautiful picture. It shows that there are people who are able to see that life is worth saving, no matter if it is an animal or a human.
Frau
Feb 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
When I saw that image, my thoughts immediately went to a little bear orignally named Hotfoot Teddy.

I believe that Sam would make an excellent spokeskoala for forest fires.
jodie
Feb 11th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
that’s beautiful. of course, the fires are atrocious and i, too, hope they catch those responsible…but that act of kindness and the trust of the koala is beautiful.
Polx
Feb 11th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Despite how evocative the picture is,the very idea of a koala voluntarily behaving like this is no greater indicator of how bad it is for them.

It is not cute at all.

Oh I know it is, I know it looks cute, but realy the Drop Bears, don’t do this sort of thing.
Hannah Belle Lectre
Feb 11th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
That poor baby! Koalas normally don’t drink water, so I can’t imagine the condition that bear must’ve been in to have accepted three bottles worth.
tigergal39
Feb 12th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Lets let the arsonist go without a basic need with a fire following them for a few days. Only thing is, no one will share their water with them.
Akiro
Feb 12th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Any reason we don’t have the video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSPx7S4jr4
Miss Cellania
Feb 12th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Because the video is at the linked story.
Polx
Feb 15th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Can I say a big thank you also to the fire crews from both the US and NZ who have gone to help in Victoria.

And to the Indonesian forensics team who have gone to help identifying the dead.

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