If you’re anything like us, animal rescue videos make you feel extra warm and fuzzy inside. This koala rescue in Southeastern Australia is no different.
A group of La Trobe University students stumbled across the stranded koala on a tree while canoeing down Victoria’s Murray River. Kirra Coventry, one of the Outdoor & Environmental Studies students, was able to film the rescue on her phone.
“It almost looked as though he was sussing out if he could jump into the canoe,” she told The Age. “So, we decided to have a closer look at him and to our surprise when we took the canoe closer he jumped right in.”
The rescue wasn’t the grand endeavor they were expecting. In fact, the koala seemed to be more than happy to climb down from its awkward perch and into the safe hull of the canoe. The whole process took less than 5 minutes.
“He didn’t seem distressed at the time but he did seem very happy to see us… he just jumped into the front seat and cruised back to the bank,” Coventry commented.
The students believe that the thirsty animal may have been stuck up there for days near Ulupna Island, roughly 60 km west of Yarrawonga.
“He was drinking a lot [of water], we think he’d been up there for a couple of days,” Coventry said.
Watch the full rescue operation here.
