I never anticipated such an emotional expression of gratitude. The man will always cherish this moment.
Koalas are incredibly cute, weighing over 20 pounds, but they don’t drink much water. According to National Geographic, they mainly get their hydration from the eucalyptus leaves they eat at night.
In fact, they even store food in pouches in their cheeks!
In 2018, Australians had to endure the hottest December on record, and unfortunately, the weather didn’t improve much in January, the height of the Australian summer, with temperatures reaching as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
In January 2019, people were warned to take precautions and protect their pets from the extreme heat. However, wild animals were not able to access cooling mechanisms such as air conditioning and misting fans, resulting in their water sources drying up during the heatwave. The high temperatures led to wildfires and power outages, with Port Augusta experiencing a peak of 121 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the intense heat, a group of cyclists encountered a dehydrated koala and stopped to offer it water, recognizing the dire situation that wild animals were facing.
Anna Heusler shared a video on Instagram that captured a marsupial in desperate need of water. The koala climbed up the frame of her bicycle to reach her water bottle and quenched its thirst. Anna expressed her joy in the caption, saying that it was the best thing that ever happened to her during a ride. The incident was witnessed by a group of about a dozen cyclists who also found it to be a wonderful experience.
On an extremely hot January day, the hottest one on record, a husband and wife were riding their bicycles along the road towards their home. They noticed an exhausted koala on the side of the road as they rounded a bend towards their gate. The koala appeared to be too weak to move and could barely hold its head up.
The scorching heat had caused nearby water sources to dry up and there weren’t enough natural eucalyptus trees for the koala to obtain moisture from.
The man knelt down in the shade of the sparse trees and offered the thirsty koala water. They set up a bowl and filled it with water so the koala could soak its paws and cool off.
The koala eagerly drank the cool water from the bottle. The man tried to encourage the koala to also dip into the sink, but suddenly the koala reached out and grabbed the man’s hand as he held the water bottle.
When the adorable animal had his attention, the man continued to offer it more water, but the koala wanted to show the man his gratitude and held his hand. The poor koala wouldn’t let go while it drank the refreshing and lifesaving water.
“This sweet little koala drank endlessly from a water bottle while we were doing our best to encourage it to move toward the sink we provided so it could cool its paws in the water.”
Watch the emotions the wild animal showed toward the man who helped save its life in the video below. It’s simply beautiful.
Rewritten Source: https://animalchannel.co/koala-thanks-man-water/