Tiny Koala Running From Australia's Wildfires Finds Friendship (and a Drink) with Truck Driver
The man helping the heroes, quickly became the hero on a drive through Nerriga, a town in New South Wales affected by Australia’s devastating wildfires.
Damian Campbell-Davys, a water tanker driver, was helping fill up the tanks of fire trucks fighting the region’s destructive fires, when he spied a tiny koala struggling on to the road from a group of trees, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
The driver could tell the marsupial was in need of immediate help, so he spent the next 90 minutes giving the koala a drink from his water bottle and caring for the sweet creature.
While it may seem like it was the koala, dubbed “Tiny Arse” by Campbell-Davys, who was the one who needed Campbell-Davys, the driver says it was the other way around, calling the koala “a little ray of sunshine in this nightmare.”
RELATED: How to Help Australian Fire Victims and the Half a Billion Animals Impacted by the Blazes
After enjoying Campbell-Davys’ company and the comfort of his truck’s cab, “Tiny Arse” was picked up by a wildlife rescuer to be taken to an area away from the danger zone created by Australia’s numerous wildfires, reports The Herald.
Campbell-Davys called the little survivor “a winner” for managing to make it to the road, even though they were surrounded by fire.
RELATED VIDEO: Firefighter Gives Koala A Drink While Fires Continue to Rage in South Australia
Unfortunately, much of Australia’s wildlife has not had the same good fortune. Experts recently estimated that over half a billion animals have died in Australia’s recent wildfires and that millions of acres of land have been decimated. Among the animals feared dead are tens of thousands of koalas, including roughly 20,000 of the marsupials living on Kangaroo Island.
